In 1946, one of the first movies to come out of post-war France was a live action version of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast- or rather, La Belle et la Bete. Though adapted from a fairy tale, this film is more for adults than for children, with moments which are dark- almost gothic horror- as well as others which are surreal and dream-like. The effects are amazing for the time period, and the film- shot in glorious black and white- is beautiful to look at. It is, of course, entirely in French but it can be viewed with English subtitles. This version a lot closer to the original story than say, the Disney versions, but also is padded with extra characters and back story. Fun fact: the actor who plays Avenant (a Gaston-like character) also plays the Beast.
The scene below really highlights the beauty of the cinematography and also makes it obvious that Josette Day (who plays Beauty) was a ballet dancer before she was an actress:
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