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 three children of an Eastern European dictator, played by Timothy Dalton. 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.
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.