The Beauty of the Devil

Rene Clair - whose genius has created masterpieces...now brings his magic touch to the screen in a new achievement!

Henri Faust, retiring after 50 years as a professor in a circa-1700 French university, despairs at the ravages of old age ... whereupon Mephistopheles, agent of Lucifer, appears as a virile, handsome young man and exchanges bodies with him to induce Faust to sign a pact to exchange his soul for renewed youth, riches and power. But though the "new" Faust is attracted by the material improvements in his life, he remains wary of signing, while Mephistopheles, now posing as the aged professor whose body he inhabits, must find a way to trick him into signing the pact - and dissuade him from the love of a gypsy girl who prays for his soul - or find himself damned by his own Master...

• Release date
• March 16, 1950
• Runtime
• 96 min
• Genres
• Drama, Fantasy, Comedy
• Director
• René Clair

Cast

Michel Simon Mephistopheles / Old Prof. Henri Faust Gérard Philipe Young Henri Faust / Young-Looking Mephistopheles Nicole Besnard Marguerite the Gypsy Girl Simone Valère The Princess Carlo Ninchi The Prince Raymond Cordy Antoine the Servant Paolo Stoppa Official Tullio Carminati The Diplomat