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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JFK
In 1991, scenes for Oliver Stone’s controversial film, JFK, were shot in Louisiana, including in New Orleans and at Angola prison.
Stone’s interest in John F. Kennedy’s assassination was piqued in 1988 when he attended a film festival in Cuba. There, he met Ellen Ray, publisher of Covert Action Information Bulletin, who urged him to read On the Trail of the Assassins (New York, 1988) by Jim Garrison, former New Orleans, Louisiana, District Attorney and then judge in Louisiana’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeal. Stone was fascinated by the book, which chronicled Garrison’s investigation of Kennedy’s assassination and his indictment of Clay Shaw as part of a conspiracy to kill the president. Stone also optioned Jim Marrs’s Crossfire – The Plot That Killed Kennedy (New York, 1989), and teamed with Zachary Sklar to begin
writing a script.
The film chronicled the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the alleged subsequent cover-up. It delved into Garrison’s charges against New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw, and two government investigations: (1) the Warren Commission, and (2) the House Select Committee on Assassinations (which concluded that there was another assassin shooting with Lee Harvey Oswald).
The cast included Kevin Costner as Garrison, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, Brian Doyle-Murray as Jack Ruby and Tommy Lee Jones as Clay Shaw. Kevin Bacon was also in the cast.
The Angola prison scene was filmed entirely on location with the real guards and inmates. According to several sources, Stone enjoyed filming at the Angola prison so much that he has expressed a desire to shoot a film set entirely on location there. The New Orleans locales included the Criminal Courts Building where Clay Shaw was tried in 1969.
JFK was made for $40 million and grossed over $200 million worldwide.
Poster: U.S. One Sheet