Jean Cocteau & The Testament of Orpheus (1959)

Michael-Claude Touchard once interviewed Jean Cocteau on the set of The Testament of Orpheus.  He asked Cocteau why he had chosen the actress Maria Caseres - 'so beautiful, so full of life' - to play the role of Death. "Because she is a friend," he (Cocteau) answered, "and we need death to be a friend.  It is best to have a friend as traveling companion when you have so far to go together."