Story of movie The Beautician And The Beast :
The Beautician and the Beast is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis. It stars Fran Drescher as a New York City beautician who is hired, under the false assumption she is a science teacher, to tutor the four children of a dictator, played by Timothy Dalton, of a fictional Eastern European nation. Ian McNeice, Patrick Malahide, Lisa Jakub, Michael Lerner, Adam LaVorgna, Phyllis Newman, and Heather DeLoach appear in supporting roles. Produced by Drescher's company High School Sweethearts in partnership with Paramount Pictures, The Beautician and the Beast is her first starring role in a film, and part of her attempt to transition from television to film.
| The Beautician and the Beast | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ken Kwapis |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Todd Graff |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Cliff Eidelman |
| Cinematography | Peter Lyons Collister |
| Edited by | Jon Poll |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million |
| Box office | $11.5 million |
Drescher chose Todd Graff to write the screenplay because of his familiarity with her style of humor. She pitched and sold the project to transition her career from television to film. Filming took place in Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, and Sychrov Castle in Prague. Kwapis consulted with dialect coach Francie Brown to create the fictional language Slovetzian for the movie. Cliff Eidelman composed the soundtrack which features the London Metropolitan Orchestra.
The Beautician and the Beast received primarily negative reviews on its release. Some film critics felt the story was too similar to a television sitcom, though Drescher and Dalton's performances received praise. However, Drescher was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her role. Commentators noted that the film deals with themes of cultural differences and took inspiration from outside sources. The Beautician and the Beast was a box office disappointment, grossing roughly $11.5 million against a production budget of $16 million.
Screenplay
The film opens with an animated sequence in which a prince awakens a princess with a kiss, though she rejects his romantic advances and runs away. The scene shifts to beautician Joy Miller, who teaches a New York City beauty school. One of her students accidentally sets the classroom ablaze by igniting hair spray with a cigarette, but she escorts her class and caged animals to safety. A headline in the New York Post praises Joy as a hero; Ira Grushinsky, a diplomat from the fictional Eastern European country Slovetzia, mistakes Joy for a science teacher after seeing the cover. He hires Joy as a tutor for the four children of the Slovetzia dictator Boris Pochenko, though she misinterprets his job offer as teaching hairstyling. After arriving at Slovetzia, Ira is surprised to discover Joy's identity, but she convinces him to keep it a secret.
Despite a bad first impression with Boris, Joy gets along with his children Katrina, Karl, Masha, and Yuri. While teaching them about life outside Slovetzia, she also helps them gain confidence in themselves. She learns about Katrina's relationship with Alek, the leader of the youth rebellion, and encourages Karl to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. During this time, Joy frequently clashes with Pochenko, who is disturbed by her independence and his inability to frighten her. Joy and Katrina go to a nightclub, which also operates as a base for the rebellion; Prime Minister Leonid Kleis follows the pair and arrests Alek.
Growing closer to Joy, Boris confesses to her that he wants to change his negative reputation as a "beast" among Western nations; she encourages him to form closer relationships with his citizens and shaves his mustache. During a trip to a factory, Joy realizes that Slovetzia lacks trade unions and pushes for the workers to hold a strike. She also arranges a secret meeting between Katrina and Alek in his cell. Despite Leonid's advice to fire Joy, she convinces Boris to hold a party for the summit of visiting emissaries to debut his new image; he places her in charge of the preparations. As part of the summit, Boris considers the release of Alek despite Leonid's disagreement. On the day of the event, Joy reveals her identity to Boris, but he does not care about her credentials. He thanks her for bringing happiness to him and his family.
During the party, Leonid confronts Joy about her role in Katrina's secret meetings with Alek; he threatens to have her arrested for treason. Following Boris's decision to keep Alek in jail, Joy informs him that she had set up meetings between Alek and Katrina; he argues with Joy over her meddling in Slovetzia's political affairs. She quits and returns to New York City. Over the course of several weeks, Leonid quietly takes over administrative duties and signs death sentences in Boris' name. When Ira informs him of the changes in power, Boris strips Leonid of his duties and arrests him on charges of treason. He reunites with Joy in New York City, informing her that he freed Alek and agreed to hold free elections in Slovetzia. Boris kisses Joy after admitting his feelings for her.
The cast is:
- Fran Drescher as Joy Miller
- Timothy Dalton as Boris Pochenko
- Ian McNeice as Ira Grushinsky
- Patrick Malahide as Leonid Kleist
- Lisa Jakub as Katrina Pochenko
- Michael Lerner as Jerry Miller
- Adam LaVorgna as Karl Pochenko
- Phyllis Newman as Judy Miller
- Heather DeLoach as Masha Pochenko
- Kyle and Tyler Wilkerson as Yuri Pochenko
- Timothy Dowling as Alek
Fran Drescher pitched and sold the concept and title for The Beautician and the Beast. She was an executive producer for the film, which was handled through her company High School Sweethearts. The original title was The King and Oy, a reference to the musical The King and I. Joy was Drescher's first starring role in a feature film, though her first movie appearance was in the 1977 drama Saturday Night Fever. Drescher chose to play a character similar to her earlier roles to encourage audiences to accept her transition to film. She modeled her transition from television to movies on the careers of John Travolta and Michael J. Fox. Director Ken Kwapis explained: "She has had to overcome a lot of skepticism about her voice, her abilities, the specificity of her comedy."
Timothy Dalton joined the film as Boris while pursuing comedic roles. Drescher had initially imagined that Kevin Kline would fit the character, but he was unavailable. According to Will Harris of The A.V. Club, The Beautician and the Beast was one of Dalton's lighter and more comedic projects. During a 2014 interview, Dalton shared that he had a positive experience while creating the film, and praised Drescher for her comic timing. Describing herself as "very protective" of Dalton during the filming, Drescher helped him with the comedy and ensured that he had enough comedic parts.
Roger Birnbaum and Peter Marc Jacobson were also executive producers for the project; Todd Graff worked as a producer, alongside Howard W. Koch, Jr., and wrote the screenplay. Drescher chose Graff because of their similar sense of humor, and explained that "he was familiar with her voice and what type of dialogue suits her best". She had sold the film with Graff attached as the screenwriter. Kwapis recruited dialect coach Francie Brown to construct the fictional language Slovetzian, which has influences from Czech, Russian, and Hungarian. The film was shot in the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, and Sychrov Castle in Prague. Peter Lyons Collister handled the cinematography, while Jon Poll did the editing. The Beautician and the Beast was completed on a budget of $16 million; the film's final cut ran for a total of 107 minutes.
| The Beautician and the Beast | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Cliff Eidelman | |
| Released | February 11, 1997 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 30:54 |
| Label | Milan |
| Producer | Cliff Eidelman |
American composer Cliff Eidelman handled the soundtrack for The Beautician and the Beast, which was recorded at the CTS Studios in Wembley. The album's nineteen tracks feature the London Metropolitan Orchestra. Eidelman composed seventeen tracks, while the remaining two ("L 'Internationale" and "The J Waltz") are traditional works by composers Pierre De Geyter and Jerry Graff, respectively. Eidelman incorporated elements of Russian classical music throughout the soundtrack.
Milan Records released the soundtrack on February 11, 1997, as an audio CD. It was later made available on the music streaming service Spotify. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic had a mixed review of the soundtrack. He praised Eidelman for avoiding melodrama, but criticized his melodies as "leaden and unfocused" with "none of the effervescence the genre demands". The second movement of "Ballroom Waltz" was later included in the 2007 video game BioShock.
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