The Bell Theater was originally located at Bell and Dorgenois Streets, where it operated between 1914 and 1921. In the early years, the theater served not only as an entertainment venue, but was frequently the location of community organizing meetings and large-scale fundraisers for non-profit organizations. [1]

After closing the original location, proprietor William Junqua reopened the Bell in August of 1922 at 2800 Grand Route St. John at Gentilly Boulevard, near Bayou St. John and only four blocks from the City Park Fairgrounds. Lauded for its solid construction and unique interior, the new Bell was the largest theater “north of Canal Street,” and brought the grandeur of the downtown theater to the expanding suburbs. [2] With 1,100 seats, the new location was the largest suburban theater in the city, and quickly became one of the most successful. At the opening performance, over 2,000 people “applied for admittance,” and capacity houses were reported every night for the first two weeks. The popularity of the theater prompted Junqua to begin the process of adding an 800-seat balcony to accommodate growing crowds and presumably to increase the theater’s earning potential. [7]

Early into its new life, the Bell was lauded as “the most pleasing and artistic auditorium to be found in any suburban theater of the city.” Despite its size, it was described as “simple and dignified, achieving an atmosphere of intimacy and hominess.” [8] The theater was designed and built by general contractor J.W. Fleetman of New Orleans and cost an estimated $18,000 [9], the equivalent of about $247,000 today, accounting for inflation. [10] The theater was uniquely ornamented in the Dutch style, including Cyprus wood paneling and handmade chairs. [11]

On April 9, 1966, the Bell Theater was destroyed in a fire that began in the roof and quickly spread through the entire building. The fire caused the evacuation of 30 homes in the neighborhood, and an estimated $100,000 in damages to the theater and surrounding structures. [16]

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The Imperial Theater opened in 1922 at Hagan Avenue and Dumaine. Owned by Rene Brunet Senior, a member of a prominent New Orleans theater family, Imperial Theater was Brunet's third theatrical endeavor. The exterior of the Imperial was in the Art Deco style popular throughout the 1920s and 30s. The theater advertised its “typhoon” cooling system. [2]

The story of the Imperial Theater, like other neighborhood theaters in New Orleans, contrasts with the image of the movie “palaces” and first-run houses owned primarily by major production corporations. At this time, the film business was “vertically integrated,” and included production, distribution, and exhibition. Theaters played a huge part in the success of film corporations. [1]

Throughout the life of the Imperial, the theater operated not only as an entertainment venue, but a gathering place for local families. The Brunets offered a variety of specialty nights that Rene Brunet Jr. details in his book, including yo-yo nights for children and “ladies gift nights,” where door prizes could include 52-piece dinnerware sets. Other events and contests used to attract people to the theater were amateur night, and even giving away live turkeys during Thanksgiving and Christmas! [2] Imperial Theater regularly supported fundraising and community benefit campaigns throughout the 1920s and 30s for a variety of causes.

Mr. Brunet were not the only members of their family involved in the daily operations of the Imperial. Rene Brunet Jr. once recalled that his sister ran the box office, and his grandmother took tickets from the time of the theater’s opening until it closed. Rene Brunet Sr. died in October 1946 from a heart attack. Shortly afterward, Rene Brunet Jr. took over operations of the Imperial. [2]

The Imperial was destroyed by an early morning fire in March 1957. The fire caused approximately $80,000 in damage [3] The Imperial was never reconstructed.

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Built in 1918 to replace the older Orpheum, the new Orpheum Theatre opened with great pomp and circumstance on February 5, 1921, with a matinee performance in the afternoon. [1] However, according to the coverage of the New Orleans Item, “The real opening of the magnificent theatre did not take place until the evening, when an audience socially brilliant and thoroughly representative of the city’s life assembled to get a first glimpse at one of the finest theaters in America…like a gala night at the opera.” [2] However, the wealthy and lavish were not the Orpheum’s only patrons, nor was their presence at its opening “thoroughly representative of the city’s life,” as the Item proclaimed.

The Orpheum was segregated. The first balcony was reserved for white customers, and its stairs rose from the orchestra foyer. The second balcony was sanctioned "colored only" and its stairs rose from the exterior alleys. [3] It was a three-story building with luxurious appointments including marble mosaic floors in the lobbies. The building had at least twenty two dressing rooms spread throughout all three stories. [1]

The Keith-Orpheum Circuit provided the Orpheum with vaudeville acts, which were considered “big time“ as compared to the Loew Circuit and aimed at a “classy audience,” the kind that went to Broadway plays. [4]

A film projector was placed in the original plans for the building. While the Orpheum was primarily intended as a stage theatre, it is significant that a motion picture projector would share the space at this point in time. The Orpheum in New Orleans became the recipient of the films, and by 1931, they had surpassed vaudeville as the main attraction of the theater. [4] The onset of the Great Depression fueled both musicians and stagehand strikes enough to force the Orpheum to drop vaudeville altogether. [4] By the end of the 1930s, the Orpheum showed only full-length feature films and also became the home of RKO pictures.

In 1981, the Orpheum Theatre underwent an extensive renovation keeping most of its historical form and details. Since then, the New Orleans Symphony (later, renamed the Louisiana Philharmonic in 1991) played there until 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. [5] The theatre sat empty and filled with water until 2010. The theater reopened in 2015 after extensive restorations.

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In the early years of the film industry, few aspects of the industry were more important than distribution. Film exchanges handled the repair, rental, and advertisement of motion pictures both locally and across geographic regions. Exchanges worked with different production companies to license reels. Their operations could be quite controversial as production companies tried to create exclusivity agreements and prevent piracy. New Orleans exchanges were notorious for not obeying their contracts with Northern producers.

This Metro Film Company Exchange office was a sub-office of the Southern Metro Film Corporation, which held its headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee and controlled distribution in all the southeastern states. [1] The Metro Film Company Exchange office was an important regional distributor. Located downtown at 407 Carondelet near Exchange Row and under the leadership of manager Karl A. Bugbee, exhibitors would view films in a private screening and sign rental contracts that stipulated how long the film would be shown and the price of the rental. [2, 3] Metro operated from 1915 to 1917.

K.A. Bugbee served as manager until January 1918 when he resigned and opened a ‘state’s rights’ exchange, a film exchange that usually buys “exclusive territorial rights on films from independent producers, and in turn sell exhibition rights to the theaters, either for a flat price or on a percentage basis.” [4] Moving Picture World noted his resignation by saying that Bugbee “built up the business from an inconsequential volume to one of the strongest film institutions in this territory.” [5] Bugbee was also considered “one of the best-known film men in the south” for his work in the New Orleans film industry. [6]

The Metro exchange distributed many films throughout its existence. One notable distribution in the New Orleans community was the Times-Picayune photoplay feature involving fifteen women from the New Orleans exchange territory who were given “an opportunity to demonstrate their natural talents for the screen.” [7]

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 Oscar winning film by director David Fincher, filmed primarily in uptown New Orleans. The film was adapted from a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald by the same name, from the collection “Tales of the Jazz Age.” Screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) adapted the short story, which was originally set in Baltimore. [1] New Orleans was ultimately chosen as the film location for both creative and economic reasons—to take advantage of the city’s unique character and settings and the State of Louisiana’s generous film incentives. [2]

The storyline of the film spans the years between 1918 and 2005 as it tells the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), who is born an 80-year-old man and ages in reverse. As an infant he is left on the steps of a nursing home where he is taken in by “Queenie” (Taraji P. Henson), a caretaker, and consequently raised as her own. While at the nursing home Benjamin meets six-year-old Daisy, whose grandmother is a patient in the home. As the years pass, the viewer watches the lives of Daisy and Benjamin unfold as she progresses in age and he ages in reverse. Daisy moves to New York to become a dancer and Benjamin fights in World War II. As an adult Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin grow closer in age, they begin a romance that brings them to New York, Paris, and back to New Orleans.

In 2006 director David Fincher visited New Orleans to scout locations to film Benjamin Button. While visiting the Garden District, Fincher became enamored with the 8,000-plus-square-foot white centerhall cottage at 2707 Coliseum Street. Fincher imagined the house would serve as the retirement home in which Benjamin Button would grow up. The director and his location scout knocked on the door of the house but received no response, so they left a note taped to the front door. The owner of the home, Mary Nell Porter Nolan, was in Houston where she evacuated from Katrina. When the note made it to Ms. Nolan, she originally declined to have the house filmed. Location scout Bill Doyle attempted to find a suitable replacement for the home, looking at as many as 300 other properties. However, director Fincher was resolute on 2707 Coliseum. [3]

Persistent pleas from the director, location manager, and Ms. Nolan’s son eventually paid off. Ms. Nolan was convinced that the film would have a positive impact on New Orleans, still very much devastated by Katrina.

Ms. Nolan was able to drop in on the set on several occasions during the production of the film. She evacuated again to Houston during Hurricane Gustav and passed away there before the film was released. Interestingly, the life of the home’s owner parallels that of Daisy, the heroine of Benjamin Button. Like Daisy, Ms. Nolan met the love of her life in the home on Coliseum street, pursued a career in dance in New York City, and ultimately spent her final days “during the uneasiness of a hurricane.” [4] William T. Nolan II, Ms. Nolan’s son, said that the family was very pleased with the film and the depiction of their home as “character in the movie.”[5]

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The Liberty Theatre owned by the Saenger Amusement Company and managed under the auspices of Boehringer Amusement Company opened in 1918. The theater was lavishly designed with the intention of being “the most complete motion picture theater in the South.” [1] The theater was complete with ceiling frescoes completed by Italian artist Guiseppe Rossi, a marble staircase leading to its foyer, and a miniaturized Statue of Liberty adorning its cornice. [2]

When Liberty first opened the theater regularly screened a combination of dramatic films, newsreels, and short comedies. Matinee screenings began 1 p.m. and cost just 10 cents. Evening screenings, which ran from 6 p.m. until midnight, cost a whopping 15 cents. [3]

The Liberty Theatre was acquired by RKO Pictures by the 1950s and ultimately shuttered its doors in 1955. The structure was demolished and today the site is home to a portion of the Pan American Life Center.

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The Prytania Theatre is the oldest operating theater in New Orleans, dating back to 1915. It is the only single-screen, suburban theater in the state of Louisiana. It caters to film buffs and families alike with its eclectic selection of film viewings, alternating between modern blockbusters and classic films.

The Prytania Theatre originally opened its doors in 1915, and relocated in 1927 to a neighborhood house costing $100,000 on Prytania Street near Peters Avenue. The new Prytania, operated by the M. H. Jacobs Theatrical Enterprises, was, as Mr. Jacobs put it, a theater that "capitalizes the fact that buildings are living things, possessing individual character and personality." [1] The Prytania Theatre featured the occasional fashion show, such as their 1928 Easter Fashion Show. Tickets cost 30 cents for adults and 15 cents for children, and promised to display "the latest American and Parisian modes." [2] Later, though, they became more standardized in that they showed only films.

According to Rene Brunet, current owner of the Prytania, during World War II "people not only came [to the theater] for entertainment," they came to "find out what was going on in the war because, of course, you didn’t have television then." [3] The Prytania Theater, like many smaller theaters in the city, played a central role in disseminating important information to the public.

With the birth of suburban shopping centers in the 1970s, city theaters took a turn for the worse. These mega suburban cinemas provided large parking lots and enormous theaters in neighborhoods close to people's homes. As a result of the growing suburban competition, many urban theaters closed shop. However, a handful of theaters in the New Orleans area found a different way to combat their rivals and became best known as "alternative" movie houses. The most popular ones included Toulouse Street Theatre, Pitt Theatre, Abalon Theatre, and Prytania Theatre. [4]

When the Prytania Theatre was having financial difficulties they began showing old movies, art films, and popular recent movies. Up until that time, every theater in the area was only showing the films that had just ended in the larger houses, and ticket sales were waning. According to Woody Prejean, the assistant manager at the time, audiences loved the new concept, and Prejean based much of the success on the fact that the Prytania never ran movies for more than three days.[4]

At this time, the Prytania was showing two movies a night, with an admission price of $2.50, and house seating capacity was capped at 340. The theater published a large poster displaying film showings for the subsequent month and offered subscription tickets for 10 films at $17.50. [5]

A night at the movies continued to be the most popular way to spend the evening, though young people were increasing in attendance, while their parents were decreasing. These adolescents and young adults became better known as the "core audience" and were accustomed to attending movies at the suburban shopping centers. Instead of trying to compete with these large cinemas, the Prytania played to a niche market. Like a handful of other repertory cinemas in New Orleans, the Prytania's success was attributed to program flexibility and its willingness to try anything. Although the theater had already been displaying their monthly poster in the theater itself, they dropped their daily newspaper ad and opted to distribute small flyers with the schedule of attractions for the next several months. [6]

This combination of new approaches to airing films proved to be a hit for the tiny theater servicing the uptown area of New Orleans, and the theater remains today as a thriving venue for film showings. [7]

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A Streetcar Named Desire is the title of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams, adapted in 1951 for the big screen by director Elia Kazan. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous film depictions of the City of New Orleans, despite the fact that the much of the production took place in Burbank, California film studios. Williams lived in the French Quarter throughout much of his adult life, he lived in this apartment at 632 1/2 St. Peter Street while writing A Streetcar Named Desire.

The creation of Streetcar and its ongoing impact on the image of New Orleans is particularly interesting in our modern era of “runaway production,” in which many states offer tax incentives to lure production to locations outside of Hollywood. In the early 1950s however, film crews were much less mobile and the industry was highly concentrated in Southern California. [1]

Regardless of the filming location, even today, the sultry depiction of New Orleans’ French Quarter provides a draw to tourists interested in seeing where Stanley (played by Marlon Brando) famously bellowed “Hey Stella!” to his wife from the base of the curving wrought iron stairs of their rundown apartment.

Streetcar begins with Blanche (Vivien Leigh) arriving at her sister Stella’s (Kim Hunter) run-down apartment in the French Quarter. Blanche lives in a “dream world of long-gone gentility,” and is dismayed by her sister’s way of life, including her marriage to brutish Stanley (Marlon Brando). Throughout the script, Stanley taunts Blanche, eventually revealing a secret that sends her into a complete breakdown. Ultimately Stanley is rebuffed by his wife and friends, left alone to witness the result of his cruelty. [2]

The famous opening scene of the film shows Blanche arriving at Stella’s French Quarter apartment aboard a trolley car displaying the name “Desire,” on the front. This is referential to the Desire Streetcar line, which ceased operation before the film was released. One of the “Desire” cars was recalled from retirement by then Mayor Morrison and New Orleans Public Service for the shooting of the opening scene at the L&N station at the foot of Canal street. [2]

Richard Day, who won an Academy Award for the sets he created for the film, “had to create a scene that was both real and believable, yet symbolic of decay and gradual disintegration.” Further, “they had to be the kind of scenes you might see in certain parts of New Orleans.” Day traveled to New Orleans for several weeks before production began to find inspiration in “picturesque aspects of various street and buildings of the Vieux Carre,” resulting in a “striking set for the “Elysian Fields apartments” in which the majority of the film’s action is set. [1]

Whether the scenes of A Streetcar Named Desire were filmed on location in New Orleans or recreated on a Hollywood Sound Stage, the image of the city was spread throughout the states. A press booklet promoting the theatrical re-release of the film after the 24th Academy Awards (where the film received five awards) suggests, “A Streetcar Named Desire reveals a side to the lovely Southern city that has startled American play and motion picture fans.” [3]

In 1965, fourteen years after the release of the film, state tourism director John Carroll attempted to revive the imagery of the Desire Streetcar to spur tourism interest. Originally from New Orleans but trained in Hollywood, Carroll emphasized that the state needed to “think big if it wanted to get into the big league in tourism.” One of his suggestions included putting the “streetcar named Desire” on a trailer and send it “rolling around the country loaded with promotional materials for potential visitors.” Additionally, an undated, but probably 60s-era tourism brochure featured a map of the Desire streetcar line’s former route. [3]

Today, visitors to New Orleans have a few options for “Streetcar” tourism since much of the movie was filmed on set in California. Each year in late March the city plays host to the Tennesse Williams Festival, featuring lectures, performances, and a "Stella" screaming contest to honor the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Visitors can also visit Stella! or Stanley, two restaurants in the French Quarter named after the characters from the story.

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The projectionist strike of 1914 is one of the earliest examples of film workers organizing in New Orleans. Few details are known about its origins or outcomes, but accounts of its unfolding offer insight into the shifting cultural landscape of the early film economy.

Projectionists played a key role in early movie theaters. They operated all the equipment in the projection booth and were responsible for the handling of large reels of film. Despite its central function, the job was not without occupational hazards. Projection booths could become easily overheated, and the equipment was rudimentary and prone to failure. In the early days of film, the highly flammable equipment led to a series of major fires in theaters. [1] According to film scholar Richard Abel, the projectionist of the silent film era was “an invisible employee confined to a cramped and insalubrious booth for long periods of time, enduring the worst working conditions ever found in the film industry.” [2]

Letters from New Orleans to the film magazine Moving Picture World give conflicting accounts of the strike's activities. Some writers claimed that during a Saturday night show, strikers had thrown stink bombs into crowded theaters, including facilities owned by local film magnate Herman Fichtenberg's Alamo Theater located on the 1000 block of Canal Street. At least two people were arrested for disturbing the peace related to these incidents. Others disavowed any striker involvement in the stink bomb attacks, claiming that theater owners were inciting unrest by refusing to sit down and negotiate with the strikers on civil terms. [3]

Although the union representing projectionists and other film workers, IATSE Local 478, was not incorporated in New Orleans until 1986, the strike illustrates that concern over workers' rights in the movie industry was an issue in the city even in the early days of Hollywood South.

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The Old Jockey Club of New Orleans was a primary filming location of the 1912 silent film "The Belle of New Orleans." The film was created and produced entirely in New Orleans by the Kalem Film Company. The Jockey Club provided a beautiful backdrop for the film, which is set in New Orleans while under French Rule. Also known as the Luling Mansion, the home was designed by famed architect James Gallier, Jr. in 1865.

After national release, "The Belle of New Orleans" played an important role in spreading images of New Orleans across the U.S. Newspapers from several states lauded the "beautiful and interesting backgrounds" of New Orleans and proclaimed the film "without exception, one of the most sensational pictures ever produced."

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Diamond Film Company operated entirely in New Orleans from 1918 to 1920. Located on Bayou Saint John, the complex was equipped for a range of production activities, including carpentry shops for set design and scenery, makeup and costume rooms, lighting equipment storage, rehearsal space, machine repair shops, and even a large filming studio covered in glass to let light in. Many film reels and several feature films were produced entirely at the complex. Present day 1347 Moss Street served as Diamond's general offices.

R. M. Chisholm, a wealthy New Orleanian with ties to the oil field industry, founded the Diamond Film Company in the summer of 1917. At that time, his other business, the Interstate, Oil, Gas, and Development Company, was under investigation by the State Supreme Court for embezzlement. Under the advice of Arthur Leopold, Chisholm’s lawyer the Diamond Film Company company collected 100,000 dollars worth of investment money to begin their entrepreneurial venture in the entertainment industry.

In June of 1918, Chisholm stepped down as president, “owing press to another business.” Shortly after, he sold one of Diamond Film Company's major assets, Diamond Theater. The speculation of why Chisholm sold the theater was thought to be solved when news of the oil lawsuit became public knowledge and Chisholm quickly acquired 60 acres of land in the Terrebone Oil Fields with a deposit of several thousand dollars cash shortly thereafter. Chisholm’s involvement with Diamond was similar to that of his other entrepreneurial investments. His time with Diamond ended abruptly at the foot of speculation of illegal activity, yet his investments were protected and it seems as though he profited from his time in the movie business.

All of the films made by Diamond Film Company had plots that pertained to New Orleans and highlighted its unique culture and society and historical relevance. The company aimed to celebrate the city of New Orleans with its inhabitants by taking authentic shots of the city and sharing this uniqueness with national audiences.

These films, however, did not receive much acclaim and Diamond shuttered its doors in 1920 after just two years in operation.

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The New Orleans Association of Commerce was established in 1913 by local businessmen and originally headquartered at 315 Camp Street before relocating to 635 Common Street sometime prior to 1922. The association outlined plans in 1918 to increase the "get together spirit in New Orleans," and collaborate with the city government in order to promote trade and industry, attract new businesses, and encourage civic improvement in New Orleans and throughout the state of Louisiana.

One of the ways that the Association planned to enact this plan was to bring moving picture producers to New Orleans. This form of boosterism promoted the city as a center of innovation and film production. Their push to frame New Orleans and Louisiana as a film mecca coincided with the efforts of local film production companies, such as the Diamond Film Company and Harcol Film Company.

Public and private efforts to brand New Orleans as a center of film production continues today. According to Will French, president of Film Production Capital and board member of the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association, the increase in production brought about by tax incentives have helped to bolster film related employment and keep jobs from moving out of state. While the policy French describes has been controversial, his desire to frame film as a way to boost the local economy draws upon the legacy of the discourse as found in the 1918 New Orleans Association of Commerce Report.

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Constructed in 1822 under the direction of architect Simon Bernard, Fort Wood was thought to be impregnable to enemy troops attacking in the narrow straits of lakes Borgne and St. Catherine. In 1851, the fort was renamed Fort Macomb to honor Alexander Macomb, a field commander lauded for his actions during the War of 1812.

Fort Macomb is a Third System fort. Third System forts, erected to protect the nation's waterways from attack, were made of superior materials and usually housed more cannons than their earlier First and Second System counterparts (see Fort Petite Coquilles).

Fort Macomb features the same general design as Fort Pike, located just nine miles away. However, unlike Pike, Macomb is in poor condition today due to the encroachment of Lake Catherine.

Fort Macomb was never used for offensive purposes. During the Second Seminole and Mexican Wars, the fort was a staging area for supplies. During the Civil War, Confederate forces seized control of the fort in January of 1861. Union troops regained the fort and used it for training exercises and barracks in 1862. The First Louisiana Native Guard, one of the first all-black regiments to fight in the Union Army performed guard duty at Fort Macomb during the American Civil War. The First Louisiana Native Guard was comprised of self-emancipated men and free men of color.

The fort caught fire in 1867 and the government abandoned the site. The government decommissioned the fort by 1871.

In recent years, Fort Macomb has played host to several film projects including HBO's True Detective, NCIS, and Beyonce's Lemonade.

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