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The
Big Easy (1987)
Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin
A great
police drama set in New Orleans in the
1980's with Dennis Quaid as a Cajun speaking
head of homicide for the N.O.P.D. and
Ellen Barkin as the sexy new District
Attorney out to fight corruption in the
Police Department. This movie has a great
musical score and is filled with lots
of Cajun and New Orleans "ism's"
thrown in. Very entertaining. |
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The
Buccaneer (1958)
Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, Claire Bloom
The Cecil
B. DeMille production of the story of
the pirate Jean Laffite, Andy Jackson,
and the Battle of New Orleans. Has a great
battle scene of the British attacking
the battle line on the plains of Chalmette. |
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Belizare
the Cajun (1986)
Armand Assante, Gail Youngs, Robert Duvall
Set in the
Cajun Country of South Louisiana prior
to the Civil War, this film centers around
a murder mystery and is a wonderful look
at Cajun culture and customs during this
time. Armand Assante is outstanding as
the Cajun rogue, Belizare, in this down
home Louisiana film. |
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Pretty
Baby (1978)
Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine
This was
Brook Shields' first major starring role
as a 13 year old prostitute in the Storyville
district of New Orleans in 1917. It gives
a real insight into the life and times
of the people who lived in this infamous
New Orleans red light district. It has
a wonderful Jazz musical score. |
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No
Mercy (1986)
Richard Gere, Kim Basinger
A fast paced
murder mystery about a Chicago cop searching
in New Orleans for the murderer of his
partner. Very intense with a sexy love
tryst involving Kim Basinger. Some very
good shots of Bourbon Street and the French
Quarter. |
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Interview
With a Vampire (1994)
Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt
A most provocative
vampire movie set in 18th century
New Orleans about the life of a French
Creole vampire and his journey through
the Ages. Based upon the popular novel
by New Orleans writer Anne Rice. |
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Band
of Angels (1957)
Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, Sidney Poitier
An interesting
movie for its day based upon the Civil
War novel by Robert Penn Warren. Set in
Louisiana during the Civil War, Clark
Gable plays a Southern Gentleman who was
a former slave trader in love with Yvonne
De Carlo who finds out that she has black
blood in her lineage. Sidney Poitier has
a great performance as Clark Gable's adopted
son and overseer. |
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Jezebel
(1938)
Bette Davis, Henry Fonda
Poor Bette
Davis didn't get the lead in Gone with
the Wind but she did have an outstanding
role in this melodrama set in New Orleans
prior to the Civil War. Davis is great
as a scandalous Southern Belle and Henry
Fonda is excellent as a proper New Orleans
Gentleman. Bette Davis won her second
Academy Award for this film. |
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Evangeline
(1929)
Delores Del Rio
A wonderful
silent film starring the great Delores
Del Rio based on the epic poem Evangeline
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This movie
is about the tragic yet triumphant struggle
of the Acadian people in Nova Scotia and
their forced migration from Canada to
Louisiana in the 18th Century.
It is a historical drama that includes
some of the finest images in all of the
silent cinema. |
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Napoleon
(1927)
Abel Grance (Director)
This great
silent film was thought to have been lost
but was found and restored in the 1980's
by Francis Ford Coppola. Abel Grance was
a film genius who was the first director
to use split screen, moving camera, and
Poly vision. This film is a real epic
and covers the live of Napoleon up through
his invasion of Italy in the 1790's. It
is absolutely amazing to see how this
film is put together and how well made
it is. When it was re-released in the
80's it was extremely popular in New Orleans
since that city was sold to the United
States by Napoleon and has a Bonapartist
tradition. |
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Storyville
— The Naked Dance (2000)
Documentary
This film
is the first documentary to be made about
the infamous red light district of New
Orleans known as Storyville. The Storyville
district was a 16 block area in which
prostitution and gambling were quarantined
within the city and operated legally from
1898 until 1917. The District became famous
for having luxurious mansions devoted
to the "Sportin' Life" as it
was called then and also to being the
birthplace of Jazz music. A most interesting
documentary set against the backdrop of
Victorian morality. |
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Kingfish:
The Story of Huey P. Long (1995)
John Goodman
John Goodman
is outstanding as the controversial Louisiana
Governor Huey P. Long in this riveting
film which covers Long's rise to power
in the 1920's and eventual assassination
in 1935. A very well made film about the
life of this Populist Southern Demagogue. |
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America
— Huey Long (1987)
Documentary
A great
documentary on the rise and fall of Louisiana
Politician Huey P. Long by that great
filmmaker Ken Burns. This is a wonderful
film filled with interviews of people
who knew Long and lived during his reign
as virtual dictator of Louisiana. An extremely
well made film about a powerful, and controversial,
politician. |
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Biography
— Huey Long
Documentary
Another
well made documentary about Louisiana
Governor Huey P. Long which appeared on
the Biography Channel. This film is a
fascinating look at the life and politics
of Governor Long who rose to power in
Louisiana in the 1920's and became virtual
dictator of the State until he was assassinated
in 1935. |
