from 300 moments that make new orleans unique. 300...300 new orleans tricentennial 1718 ~ 2018 the...
TRANSCRIPT
300NE W ORLE ANS
TRICENTENNIAL
1718 ~ 2018
The first films were shown at West End amusement park in 1896 as an exhibition. Soon after, William T. Rock purchased the exclusive rights to show movies on the Vitascope — one of the earliest projectors — in Louisi-ana. Rock outfitted an empty shop at 623 Canal St. with chairs, covered the windows and charged a dime for
moviegoers to see films including “See Niagra Falls,” and “Shooting the Chutes.” Rock’s Vitascope Hall, as it was called, was reportedly the first for-profit movie theater in the world.
Movies weren’t standard fair at the city’s theaters un-til about the 1920s, when a string of theaters along Canal Street, including the Tudor Theater, The Trianon Theater, the Saenger, the Palace, the Orpheum and Loew’s State Theater, began showing movies.
From then until after World War II, New Orleans had about 50 movie theaters operating at any one time in neighborhoods throughout the city.
Suburbanization forced many of the theaters to close. Some of the theaters live on and have been recently reno-vated, like the Orpheum or the Carver Theater. Others have been repurposed, like the Jefferson Feed and Seed on Jefferson Highway. But most have been demolished.
The only remaining single-screen theater is The Pry-tania Theater in Uptown New Orleans. The Prytania was built in 1915, and is owned by Rene Brunet, who in 2012, published a recollection of the city’s theaters: “There’s One in Your Neighborhood: The Lost Movie Theaters of New Orleans.”
“ New Orleans’ long love of cinema dates to 1896 when the city became the home to the Vitascope, the first theater in the nation to make a profit showing movies.”
The city’s first movie theater,
Vitascope Hall, opened July
26, 1896.
From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique. WHAT
HAPPENED
T R I A N O N T H E A T E R C A S I N O C I N E M A T I V O L I T H E A T E R G L O B E T H E A T E R C A R V E R T H E A T E R
T H E P R Y T A N I A T H E A T E R
O R P H E U M T H E A T E R
L I B E R T Y T H E A T E R
A S H T O N T H E A T E R William T. Rock and Walter Wainwright of New York bought the exclusive rights to use the Vitascope in New Orleans. Rock later became president of the Vitagraph Picture Company.