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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The Drowning Pool
When Los Angeles based private eye Lew Harper is summoned to Louisiana on a case by Iris, a former lover who has married into a prominent New Orleans family, he finds himself drawn into a web of blackmail, extortion, crooked businessmen and murder. Based on a detective novel of the same name by Ross MacDonald (a pseudonym for Kenneth Millar), The Drowning Pool (1975) is a return to the dogged, world weary protagonist first introduced in Harper in 1966.
The film also starred Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Richard Jaeckel and Melanie Griffith. Even though the novel was set in Southern California, the movie sets the story in New Orleans, which was also the location of the last film Newman and Woodward made together, W.U.S.A. (1970). It also reunited Newman for the fourth time with director Stuart Rosenberg who first worked with the actor on Cool Hand Luke in 1967.
Newman almost suffered major injuries off the set while he was racing a Porsche at a New Orleans racetrack. The car he and his passenger were riding in flipped on its side but they weren't thrown out. Fortunately the windshield shattered on impact and Newman and his passenger were able to climb out unhurt.
The Drowning Pool began a four week production schedule on location in Louisiana. According to a news item from November, 1974 in Warner Bros. Rambling Reporter, Iris’s estate was filmed at Oaklawn Manor, a famous historical plantation built in the early 1800’s located near Franklin, LA. Other locations included Lafayette, Lake Charles, Franklin, Henderson Swamp, and New Orleans. The production wrapped in December of 1974, ending six weeks on location in Louisiana. It was a presentation of First Artists, a company formed by Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier, Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
The Drowning Pool premiered in New Orleans on June 18, 1975 as a benefit for the Policemen’s Association of New Orleans and was held at the Saenger-Orleans Theater.
Poster: Belgium Poster