Correction to the entry above: Walter Reade (with an “e”) Organization Inc. acquired the Sena Mall Cinema from Gulf States Theatres on March 27, 1967. Reade declared bankruptcy ten years later ankling the location on January 16, 1977. After the Mall operated it independently briefly, Gulf States Theatres re-contracted in late summer 1977 to operate the cinema.
Sena Mall was conceptualized in 1964. Gulf State Theatres booked the Sena Mall Cinema in its formative years starting on December 27, 1966. Walter Reade Organization Inc. acquired the Sena Mall Cinema from Gulf State Theatres on March 27, 1967 leading to a much higher profile marketing campaign and prestigious “New Hollywood” bookings for the venue. It was New York-based Reade’s first Southern cinema.
Reade filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 5, 1977. It closed around 40 locations with Reade ankling the $20,000 monthly lease owing zero dollars to the Sena Mall when it closed there January 16, 1977. The Mall operated the venue temporarily as a sub-run discount operation at $1 admission.
The Mall folks re-contracted with Gulf State Theatres - likely on a more favorable leasing agreement. The circuit struck gold with “Rocky Horror Picture Show” late night screenings beginning on June 9, 1978. But in the multiplex world, there would be no time warping as the Sena Mall location was screen-challenged and closed on May 7, 1989. Martin Wine Cellar took on the venue soon thereafter as a retail location.
Closed October 13, 1971 with The Computer Who Wore Shoes and King of the Grizzlies as a token screening following a run of adult titles ending in September of 1972 as a form of settlement.
The architects of the Elysium Theatre were Fayrot and Livundale. It opened November 21, 1903 with the play, “Duchess du Barry.“
The Elysium was sold to new operators LalaBrothers in November of 1916. They refreshed the venue and changed its name to Theola - getting the beginning and end of Theodore Lala’s name in there. Ziblich Amusement Co. converted it to a movie theater, the Dreamland in 1921. The Dreamland added sound to remain viable.
United Theatres closed the venue for a major refresh in July of 1956. It spent $60,000 to reopen it on October 6, 1956. The Dreamland ended operations on September 12, 1963 with “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Bikini Beach” becoming the Paris Theatre the next day, a grind adult house, on September 13, 1964. It survived into the home video era.
The first ad for the National Theatre appeared in 1920. They installed sound to remain viable. The venue went to art and foreign language films under new operators beginning on June 11, 1965 with Jane Fonda in “Circle of Love” as the Plaza Art Theatre.
The Plaza Art found a very large audience in 1972 with its “Underground Cinema” series that included “Deep Throat.” That brought legal scrutiny, as well, and the Plaza went back to more art centric fare. The Plaza appears to have gone out of business on February 12, 1976 with “Shampoo.” In August of 1976, it was given zoning approval to modify to a church.
Antoine Demharters and R. Theriot spent a scant $5,000 building the Peacock Theatre in 1927. It appears to have opened November 20, 1927 silently with “The Cat and the Canary.” In September of 1929, the venue added sound to remain viable. It appears to have closed on May 24, 1959 with “Some Like it Hot” and a jazz concert featuring “The Last Straws.”
On May 15, 1960, it returned as the Peacock Theatre showing art films beginning with “The 400 Blows.” It closed January 4, 1968 with “Up the Down Staircase” and “Any Wednesday.” It became a church with few changes in 1969 as it was offered in late 1969 as a functional theater.
For its final run, it became the Cinne Arts - an adult theatre in the porno chic era - playing “Red Man Cometh” on February 19, 1970. The theatre operated by General Theatrical Enterprises Inc. was rebranded as Studio Cinema on July 4, 1970 and constantly under police surveillance. It was closed by Judge Walter F. Marcus, Jr. on May 18, 1971 - one of six adult cinemas close that day. By October, the venue had been transformed into a skating rink ending its cinematic run of almost 44 years.
The suburban Jeff Theatre launched on September 9, 1940 with “If I Had My Way (I’d go to the Jeff Theatre)”. The name was taken from the “Jeff” or Jefferson Parish and run successfully in the War years but was gone in the early TV age.
The Jeff was refreshed and reopened on July 27, 1951 with “Great Missouri Raid” for its final stretch run. Just months later, the Jeff was reduced to two day a week operation and the remodeling money went for naught with the Jeff closing permanently on December 15, 1951 with “Cavalry Scout” and “Ma & Pa Kettle.” A classified ad soon appeared selling off 940 theatre seats. The long-running Jefferson Feed Store opened in the location on October 3, 1959 keeping the cinema’s attractor.
The Reliance Theatre opened in an existing 19th Century building on September 1, 1912 by Ed Medus and E.L. Boudreaux. Reliance faded and the property was auctioned off in 1914. Charles Vogt reopened the Reliance and - sadly enough - he also found reliance fading and the property was at its second forced auction on Valentine’s Day of 1918.
WW1 Veteran Alonzo Patterson took on the venue changing it to the Laurel Theater. George De Reyna operated In 1922 and old it for $6,300. John Winberry sold it to the Laurel Theatre Company. Winberry then sued the Laurel Theatre Company two years later. In 1930, the venue was equipped with new projectors able to project sound on film titles.
In December of 1935, new operators rebuilt the theatre as a streamline moderne complex likely keeping some foundational elements of the original structure but little else. It reopened as the New Laurel Theatre in 1936. A year later, the entire theatre was redecorated and re-reopened as the new, New Laurel Theatre on Valentine’s Day 1937. Samuel J. Right Jr. and Frank Lais, Jr. were the final operators of the Laurel Theatre and they booked Dixie Film Exchange titles to little success. The pair closed the Laurel permanently on March 27, 1955 with Laurie Anders as the “Marshal’s Daughter.” The theatre was sold for an austere $11,200 price point and used as a warehouse and, later, as an auction house.
Appears to have opened as Rosenberg’s Hall in 1891. In September of 1909 it opened as the Happy Hour Theatre. In 1915, it installed a pipe organ which was used for silent films. It was sold to the St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in 1935. Hurricane Betsy damaged the organ in 1965 and the 50-year old organ was retired after receiving and installing their new M. P. Möller unit (Opus 10678). Meanwhile, the Happy Hour continued and was showing Spanish language films on weekends.
Original grand opening was on January 29, 1926 with “The Gold Rush.” It became an African American Theatre in 1956 for its final run which ended on March 26, 1957 with United Theatres closing after showing “Francis in the Haunted House” and “First Texan.” It became a church after five years of vacancy.
Opened April 23, 1916 as the Star Theatre. In 1924, it became the new Cortez Theatre. The Cortez closed likely completing its second 20-year leasing period on December 9, 1956 with “Attack” and “Crashing Las Vegas.” It was offered for sale for $22,500.
The venue dates back to 1918. Its last film was April 8, 1966 with “Shane.” Neither Shane nor the Bell Theatre would come back as fired destroyed the building in the early hours of April 9, 1966.
The Beacon Theatre was a WW2-opened suburban venue. It set sail on April 15, 1942 with “Blues in the Night.” United Theatres built a 450-car parking lot behind the theater for the convenience of a more mobile NOLA populace. Open house attendees were well pleased with the sailboat murals and other other nautically-themed flourishes.
The Beacon operated on a 30-year leasing agreement. The Beacon dimmed on September 4, 1972 with its final film of “The Graduate.” Updated to a non-nautically themed bank, it was later demolished following the impact of the Katrina Hurricane.
The U.S. Auditorium opened here on December 22, 1915. The opening films were accompanied by a Wurlitzer organ. Operator W.G. Teabault did something fairly uncommon for a movie theater in 1916 in New Orleans - he operated it as a soda fountain theater instead of relying on an adjacent concessionaire. This was so successful that the theater’s capacity was raised the next year and its name slightly changed to the U.S. Theatre aka the United States Theater in 1918 then with 1,000 seats.
The U.S. Theatre was wired for disc-based sound. But under new operators, it closed in September of 1931 for a refresh and improved RCA Photophone sound on film with new Simplex projectors. The renamed Garden Theatre opened on September 12, 1931 with Gary Cooper in “City Streets.” It was converted to widescreen projection in the 1950s to present CinemaScope titles reducing to 800 seats.
The theatre scuffled in the television era and offered for sale in 1956, 1957 and 1958. Under new operator Harold A. Greenlin, it became a Spanish language venue on March 20, 1959 with Pedro Infante in “Escuele de Rateros.” That same year it was briefly rebranded under new operators as the Garden Art Theatre reducing seating capacity to 550 but needing far fewer chairs. The Garden ended operations on November 29, 1959. A tax lien was its last listing.
New operators relit the venue as a theater in 1961 briefly. It was used for church services in 1962 as the Garden Auditorium. It returned as a movie theater for its final stretch in June of 1963. The Garden finally wilted on November 14, 1965 with Elvis Presley in “Tickle Me” with the second of two 20-year leasing periods ending. In 1966, it was converted to a furniture making facility.
Frank Misuraca and Luis Cianelli had plans drawn up for their new theater in 1926 and as it was getting ready to start, Rudolph Valentino died on August 23, 1926. J.J. Legarde’s architectural plans were changed to The Valentino / The Valentino Theatre and its building occurred in within days of his death. The $31,000 house opened in early January 1927.
The operators were able to convert to sound but closed on May 23, 1930. Talks of a refresh and a possible sale later in the year were overshadowed by an explosion - described as three separate blasts - indicating the use of dynamite - that ended things in a New Year’s Eve spectacular. The Valentino was the third of three theaters that went down for the count in succession beginning with the Ivy, then the Roseland and, finally, the Valentino on December 31, 1930. Misuraca and Cianelli were charged with arson two weeks later. Misuraca’s life ended within two months.
The bottom left ad appears to be the last show for the independently operated Valentino on May 23, 1930. After a period of inactivity, the theatre exploded and its operators were charged with arson on what would have been the theater’s fourth anniversary.
The Washington opened under Central Amusement Co. in 1913. A 1917 refresh to the plans of architect Moise H. Goldstein improved ventilation for the Sobel-Richards-Shear venue. United Theatres added sound to remain viable.
The Washington ended service on June 13, 1937 with “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” as the last of its offerings. Fire destroyed the venue - United’s third blaze finale of the year - that day. Its remnants - just its walls - were soon demolished
The $250,000, 1,500-seat suburban opened with Mayor Arthur J. O'Keefe presiding on May 28, 1926 by E.V. Richards' then Central Enterprises. “Behind the Front” was the opening film.. The Tivoli was the third NOLA venue with a $20,000 Robert Morton pipe organ after the Loew’s State that had opened the month earlier and Saenger’s Liberty. Sound was installed to remain viable. United Theatres added widescreen projection in the 1950s. New United Theatres closed here on September 7, 1967 with “You Only Live Twice.”
In November of 1970 if was converted into a funeral home. Flood waters during Hurricane Katrina almost led. to its ouster but the Rhodes family was able to salvage the facility.
The Rivoli opened on January 22, 1920 with Erich von Stroheim in “Blind Husbands” and Fatty Arbuckle in “Back Stage.” At launch by Arcade Amusement Co., under Sobel-Richards-Sheear, the largest suburban house with 2,085 seats - including 750 seats in the balcony, a $8,000 pipe organ. Vitaphone and Movietone were added to present sound films later in the decade now as part of United Theatres.
United closed here on June 26, 1958. Three boys entered the vacant theatre and set it ablaze on February 11, 1959 destroying the balcony and roof in a fire that injured tow firefighters. The building’s remnants were demolished.
The Arrow Theatre opened as part of a post-War strip shopping center with an A&P and Walgreen’s store. The venue launched on April 16, 1947 with “My Brother Talks to Horses.” With the Arrow being in close proximity to the Jefferson Park Race Track, the local clientele must have appreciated the effort.
Philip Foto opened the new-build, $37,500 Foto’s Folly Theatre on November 15, 1915. Sound was added to the venue to remain viable. United Theatres Circuit took on the venue losing Foto’s name. United closed the West Bank Folly Theatre following the May 7, 1961 showing of “The Great Impostor”
Correction to the entry above: Walter Reade (with an “e”) Organization Inc. acquired the Sena Mall Cinema from Gulf States Theatres on March 27, 1967. Reade declared bankruptcy ten years later ankling the location on January 16, 1977. After the Mall operated it independently briefly, Gulf States Theatres re-contracted in late summer 1977 to operate the cinema.
Sena Mall was conceptualized in 1964. Gulf State Theatres booked the Sena Mall Cinema in its formative years starting on December 27, 1966. Walter Reade Organization Inc. acquired the Sena Mall Cinema from Gulf State Theatres on March 27, 1967 leading to a much higher profile marketing campaign and prestigious “New Hollywood” bookings for the venue. It was New York-based Reade’s first Southern cinema.
Reade filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 5, 1977. It closed around 40 locations with Reade ankling the $20,000 monthly lease owing zero dollars to the Sena Mall when it closed there January 16, 1977. The Mall operated the venue temporarily as a sub-run discount operation at $1 admission.
The Mall folks re-contracted with Gulf State Theatres - likely on a more favorable leasing agreement. The circuit struck gold with “Rocky Horror Picture Show” late night screenings beginning on June 9, 1978. But in the multiplex world, there would be no time warping as the Sena Mall location was screen-challenged and closed on May 7, 1989. Martin Wine Cellar took on the venue soon thereafter as a retail location.
Closed October 13, 1971 with The Computer Who Wore Shoes and King of the Grizzlies as a token screening following a run of adult titles ending in September of 1972 as a form of settlement.
The Grand Theatre was opened on October 7, 1942 with Ann Southern in “Maisie Gets Her Man”.
The architects of the Elysium Theatre were Fayrot and Livundale. It opened November 21, 1903 with the play, “Duchess du Barry.“
The Elysium was sold to new operators LalaBrothers in November of 1916. They refreshed the venue and changed its name to Theola - getting the beginning and end of Theodore Lala’s name in there. Ziblich Amusement Co. converted it to a movie theater, the Dreamland in 1921. The Dreamland added sound to remain viable.
United Theatres closed the venue for a major refresh in July of 1956. It spent $60,000 to reopen it on October 6, 1956. The Dreamland ended operations on September 12, 1963 with “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Bikini Beach” becoming the Paris Theatre the next day, a grind adult house, on September 13, 1964. It survived into the home video era.
The first ad for the National Theatre appeared in 1920. They installed sound to remain viable. The venue went to art and foreign language films under new operators beginning on June 11, 1965 with Jane Fonda in “Circle of Love” as the Plaza Art Theatre.
The Plaza Art found a very large audience in 1972 with its “Underground Cinema” series that included “Deep Throat.” That brought legal scrutiny, as well, and the Plaza went back to more art centric fare. The Plaza appears to have gone out of business on February 12, 1976 with “Shampoo.” In August of 1976, it was given zoning approval to modify to a church.
Antoine Demharters and R. Theriot spent a scant $5,000 building the Peacock Theatre in 1927. It appears to have opened November 20, 1927 silently with “The Cat and the Canary.” In September of 1929, the venue added sound to remain viable. It appears to have closed on May 24, 1959 with “Some Like it Hot” and a jazz concert featuring “The Last Straws.”
On May 15, 1960, it returned as the Peacock Theatre showing art films beginning with “The 400 Blows.” It closed January 4, 1968 with “Up the Down Staircase” and “Any Wednesday.” It became a church with few changes in 1969 as it was offered in late 1969 as a functional theater.
For its final run, it became the Cinne Arts - an adult theatre in the porno chic era - playing “Red Man Cometh” on February 19, 1970. The theatre operated by General Theatrical Enterprises Inc. was rebranded as Studio Cinema on July 4, 1970 and constantly under police surveillance. It was closed by Judge Walter F. Marcus, Jr. on May 18, 1971 - one of six adult cinemas close that day. By October, the venue had been transformed into a skating rink ending its cinematic run of almost 44 years.
The suburban Jeff Theatre launched on September 9, 1940 with “If I Had My Way (I’d go to the Jeff Theatre)”. The name was taken from the “Jeff” or Jefferson Parish and run successfully in the War years but was gone in the early TV age.
The Jeff was refreshed and reopened on July 27, 1951 with “Great Missouri Raid” for its final stretch run. Just months later, the Jeff was reduced to two day a week operation and the remodeling money went for naught with the Jeff closing permanently on December 15, 1951 with “Cavalry Scout” and “Ma & Pa Kettle.” A classified ad soon appeared selling off 940 theatre seats. The long-running Jefferson Feed Store opened in the location on October 3, 1959 keeping the cinema’s attractor.
September 9, 1940 grand opening with “If I Had My Way (I’d go to the Jeff Theatre)”.
The Reliance Theatre opened in an existing 19th Century building on September 1, 1912 by Ed Medus and E.L. Boudreaux. Reliance faded and the property was auctioned off in 1914. Charles Vogt reopened the Reliance and - sadly enough - he also found reliance fading and the property was at its second forced auction on Valentine’s Day of 1918.
WW1 Veteran Alonzo Patterson took on the venue changing it to the Laurel Theater. George De Reyna operated In 1922 and old it for $6,300. John Winberry sold it to the Laurel Theatre Company. Winberry then sued the Laurel Theatre Company two years later. In 1930, the venue was equipped with new projectors able to project sound on film titles.
In December of 1935, new operators rebuilt the theatre as a streamline moderne complex likely keeping some foundational elements of the original structure but little else. It reopened as the New Laurel Theatre in 1936. A year later, the entire theatre was redecorated and re-reopened as the new, New Laurel Theatre on Valentine’s Day 1937. Samuel J. Right Jr. and Frank Lais, Jr. were the final operators of the Laurel Theatre and they booked Dixie Film Exchange titles to little success. The pair closed the Laurel permanently on March 27, 1955 with Laurie Anders as the “Marshal’s Daughter.” The theatre was sold for an austere $11,200 price point and used as a warehouse and, later, as an auction house.
Appears to have opened as Rosenberg’s Hall in 1891. In September of 1909 it opened as the Happy Hour Theatre. In 1915, it installed a pipe organ which was used for silent films. It was sold to the St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in 1935. Hurricane Betsy damaged the organ in 1965 and the 50-year old organ was retired after receiving and installing their new M. P. Möller unit (Opus 10678). Meanwhile, the Happy Hour continued and was showing Spanish language films on weekends.
Original grand opening was on January 29, 1926 with “The Gold Rush.” It became an African American Theatre in 1956 for its final run which ended on March 26, 1957 with United Theatres closing after showing “Francis in the Haunted House” and “First Texan.” It became a church after five years of vacancy.
Opened April 23, 1916 as the Star Theatre. In 1924, it became the new Cortez Theatre. The Cortez closed likely completing its second 20-year leasing period on December 9, 1956 with “Attack” and “Crashing Las Vegas.” It was offered for sale for $22,500.
The venue dates back to 1918. Its last film was April 8, 1966 with “Shane.” Neither Shane nor the Bell Theatre would come back as fired destroyed the building in the early hours of April 9, 1966.
The Beacon Theatre was a WW2-opened suburban venue. It set sail on April 15, 1942 with “Blues in the Night.” United Theatres built a 450-car parking lot behind the theater for the convenience of a more mobile NOLA populace. Open house attendees were well pleased with the sailboat murals and other other nautically-themed flourishes.
The Beacon operated on a 30-year leasing agreement. The Beacon dimmed on September 4, 1972 with its final film of “The Graduate.” Updated to a non-nautically themed bank, it was later demolished following the impact of the Katrina Hurricane.
The Beacon lights up on April 15, 1942 with “Blues in the Night.”
The U.S. Auditorium opened here on December 22, 1915. The opening films were accompanied by a Wurlitzer organ. Operator W.G. Teabault did something fairly uncommon for a movie theater in 1916 in New Orleans - he operated it as a soda fountain theater instead of relying on an adjacent concessionaire. This was so successful that the theater’s capacity was raised the next year and its name slightly changed to the U.S. Theatre aka the United States Theater in 1918 then with 1,000 seats.
The U.S. Theatre was wired for disc-based sound. But under new operators, it closed in September of 1931 for a refresh and improved RCA Photophone sound on film with new Simplex projectors. The renamed Garden Theatre opened on September 12, 1931 with Gary Cooper in “City Streets.” It was converted to widescreen projection in the 1950s to present CinemaScope titles reducing to 800 seats.
The theatre scuffled in the television era and offered for sale in 1956, 1957 and 1958. Under new operator Harold A. Greenlin, it became a Spanish language venue on March 20, 1959 with Pedro Infante in “Escuele de Rateros.” That same year it was briefly rebranded under new operators as the Garden Art Theatre reducing seating capacity to 550 but needing far fewer chairs. The Garden ended operations on November 29, 1959. A tax lien was its last listing.
New operators relit the venue as a theater in 1961 briefly. It was used for church services in 1962 as the Garden Auditorium. It returned as a movie theater for its final stretch in June of 1963. The Garden finally wilted on November 14, 1965 with Elvis Presley in “Tickle Me” with the second of two 20-year leasing periods ending. In 1966, it was converted to a furniture making facility.
Harold A. Greenlin reboots here with Spanish language films in 1959
Frank Misuraca and Luis Cianelli had plans drawn up for their new theater in 1926 and as it was getting ready to start, Rudolph Valentino died on August 23, 1926. J.J. Legarde’s architectural plans were changed to The Valentino / The Valentino Theatre and its building occurred in within days of his death. The $31,000 house opened in early January 1927.
The operators were able to convert to sound but closed on May 23, 1930. Talks of a refresh and a possible sale later in the year were overshadowed by an explosion - described as three separate blasts - indicating the use of dynamite - that ended things in a New Year’s Eve spectacular. The Valentino was the third of three theaters that went down for the count in succession beginning with the Ivy, then the Roseland and, finally, the Valentino on December 31, 1930. Misuraca and Cianelli were charged with arson two weeks later. Misuraca’s life ended within two months.
The bottom left ad appears to be the last show for the independently operated Valentino on May 23, 1930. After a period of inactivity, the theatre exploded and its operators were charged with arson on what would have been the theater’s fourth anniversary.
The Washington opened under Central Amusement Co. in 1913. A 1917 refresh to the plans of architect Moise H. Goldstein improved ventilation for the Sobel-Richards-Shear venue. United Theatres added sound to remain viable.
The Washington ended service on June 13, 1937 with “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” as the last of its offerings. Fire destroyed the venue - United’s third blaze finale of the year - that day. Its remnants - just its walls - were soon demolished
The $250,000, 1,500-seat suburban opened with Mayor Arthur J. O'Keefe presiding on May 28, 1926 by E.V. Richards' then Central Enterprises. “Behind the Front” was the opening film.. The Tivoli was the third NOLA venue with a $20,000 Robert Morton pipe organ after the Loew’s State that had opened the month earlier and Saenger’s Liberty. Sound was installed to remain viable. United Theatres added widescreen projection in the 1950s. New United Theatres closed here on September 7, 1967 with “You Only Live Twice.”
In November of 1970 if was converted into a funeral home. Flood waters during Hurricane Katrina almost led. to its ouster but the Rhodes family was able to salvage the facility.
The Rivoli opened on January 22, 1920 with Erich von Stroheim in “Blind Husbands” and Fatty Arbuckle in “Back Stage.” At launch by Arcade Amusement Co., under Sobel-Richards-Sheear, the largest suburban house with 2,085 seats - including 750 seats in the balcony, a $8,000 pipe organ. Vitaphone and Movietone were added to present sound films later in the decade now as part of United Theatres.
United closed here on June 26, 1958. Three boys entered the vacant theatre and set it ablaze on February 11, 1959 destroying the balcony and roof in a fire that injured tow firefighters. The building’s remnants were demolished.
The Arrow Theatre opened as part of a post-War strip shopping center with an A&P and Walgreen’s store. The venue launched on April 16, 1947 with “My Brother Talks to Horses.” With the Arrow being in close proximity to the Jefferson Park Race Track, the local clientele must have appreciated the effort.
Philip Foto opened the new-build, $37,500 Foto’s Folly Theatre on November 15, 1915. Sound was added to the venue to remain viable. United Theatres Circuit took on the venue losing Foto’s name. United closed the West Bank Folly Theatre following the May 7, 1961 showing of “The Great Impostor”