Louisiana Movie Poster Museum
Welcome to the the Louisiana Movie Poster Virtual Museum. Since 1895 more than 3,000 movies have been made in or about Louisiana. These posters advertised a few of them. We have hundreds to add, so check back with us as we grow.
Ed and Susan Poole, renowned movie poster experts and authorities on Louisiana film history, curated this initial exhibit. It is based on the Backdrop Louisiana! exhibit that premiered in Slidell, Louisiana in January, 2020 and we’re looking forward to a post-pandemic tour. A smidgen of their knowledge can be found at Learn About Movie Posters, known worldwide as LAMP. Visit Hollywood on the Bayou for a deeper dive into Louisiana film history.
This museum is funded in part by grants from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and the New Orleans Entertainment Coalition.
Take a Tour – We love your stories!
Click on a poster to view larger image. Then click “i”. Post your story in Comments. We love to hear about films you remember and your experiences. It’s a highlight of our live exhibits that we hope to recreate in the virtual museum.
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Angel Heart
Angel Heart is a 1987 American psychological horror film and an adaptation of William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel Falling Angel. Written and directed by Alan Parker, the film stars Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro and Lisa Bonet.
According to production notes, director Parker was interested in Falling Angel for several years before producer Elliott Kastner gave a copy of the novel to him in early 1985. After signing on to write and direct, Parker changed several aspects of the story, including adding New Orleans, LA, as a setting, and changing the year in which the story took place from 1959 to 1955, so that the film could have “an older look.”
The story begins in the 1950s: seedy Brooklyn private eye Harry Angel (Rourke) is hired by shady Louis Cyphre (De Niro) to locate a pop singer who reneged on a debt. Harry ventures into Harlem, the first step of a Heart of Darkness-inspired odyssey. Each time Harry makes contact with someone who might know the singer's whereabouts, he or she is killed in a horrible, ritualistic fashion; a Satanic cult seems to be at the bottom of all the carnage. Harry solves the mystery, all right. He just didn't know that he had the answer all along -- even before Louis entered his office.
In an April 1987 issue of Box, Parker stated that casting Robert De Niro as “Louis Cyphre” was not easy. Before accepting the role, De Niro went with Parker to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood; there, the actor read the script at a mission, wanting to “feel and smell the location to make sure he was comfortable with everything.” Rourke, who was cast prior to De Niro as the character “Harry Angel,” was intimated by De Niro at the start of filming, and Parker believed it helped intensify the early scenes between Angel and Cyphre.
Filming locations in New Orleans included the French Quarter, Maple Leaf Club, St. Alphonsius, St. Charles Track Avenue and the St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery. Other Louisiana shooting locales were at Laurel Valley Village and Napoleonville.
Poster: Polish One Sheet