Beauty and the Beast ending

One thing I found particularly interesting between the story and the film were their endings. In Beaumont’s version, the Beast is saved because Belle says she will marry him. Yet in Cocteau’s film, the Beast says that Belle saved him because she gave him a look of love. In the beginning of the film the Beast says that Belle should not look into his eyes. I don’t believe this was evident in the text and the film seemed to include a lot more aspects of looking and was preoccupied with the component of the gaze. Finally in the film, when Belle is able to look the Beast in the eyes with true tenderness and love, he becomes a man again. In the text it is the contract of marriage that releases the Beast from his spell. I enjoyed Cocteau’s version because the whole aspect of the look seemed more romantic and was carried throughout the film. I’m not sure if this is correct or not but it appeared that when Belle gazed upon the beast, smoke came from his body. This seemed most evident in the scene when she stands behind the statue and is staring at the Beast and you can see smoke coming from his paws. I wondered if this foreshadowed the whole idea of the look of love being able to save the Beast.