Fairy tales are basically too simple to make for good feature movies, and the Beauty and the Beast is no different. That said, Juraj Herz's is probably the best movie version out there. Sure enough, the embarrassingly crude moral appears at the end, but for most of the running time Herz wisely avoids over-emphasizing the morality, keeps the text poignant and not too blunt, and focuses on mood. The sets and costumes are great, and one feels he really did all he could except select a better story.