The fantastic journey of Belle, a bright and independent young woman who takes her father's place as the prisoner of a beast in his castle. As Belle befriends the castle's enchanted staff, she and the Beast slowly begin to look beyond their initial reactions to each other and see who they truly are. But back in Belle's village, her father's fears for her safety drive him to rally the villagers to free Belle from the castle--a plan that goes awry,...

Nebraska in the 1880's is bleak, lonely, and far from what the Wild West is purported to be. But for a naive Swedish immigrant, the frontier parlor of the blue hotel represent the quintessential western fantasy. No one can convince the Swede that his dime-store notions about the West are foolish. He sees murderous intentions all around him and in his terror he turns everybody against him; the story inevitably ends in tragedy. However, who is responsible?...