The Southland Cinema was opened by Gulf State Theatres (Teddy Solomon) in June, 1968. It was the second building to go up (Sears was the first) in the mall. Acutally for the first many months the cinema was not enclosed in the mall, it was just a stand alone building next to Sears on the northwest corner. It was originally a SINGLE screen theatre which was expanded to a twin in 1970. Much later on it was converted to a quad. Jesse Marlowe was the original manager.
I was the original projectionist and ran the very first show ever screened which was El Dorado with John Wayne. The Southland Cinema was in a new mall (Southland Mall) directly across the bayou (Bayou Terrebonne) from the Houma Drivein. At that time there were tall trees and foilage so you couldn’t actually see the mall from the Drive In property. I left the Houma Drive in as projectionist to take the job at the Southland Cinema.
I managed the Park Theatre in the early 1970’s. It was indeed a 1200 seat “stadium” theatre. There were about 800 seats on the main floor level and about 400 in the raised rear part of the building. That rear part back then looked more like today’s modern theatres where each row is slightly higher than the one in front so that everyone could easily see over the person in front of them. Only the “balcony” was constructed that way. You would enter the theatre from either side (left or right) down a hallway. When you entered you would essentially be in the midpoint of the theatre. There was a wide aisle running the entire width of the building. On one side of the aisle was the balcony and the other side was the main auditorium seats. There were two aisles running front to back on either side.
I just checked google and apparently the number of MAIN street has drastically changed over the years so what I said in my comment above about it being in the 400-600 block was accurate back then but today it would be 7910 Main Street which houses the Whitney Bank Building now.
The google map photo of the Bijou Theatre is totally inaccurate. It is not where NEAR the location of the BIJOU theatre. The Bijou was located in maybe the 400 to 600 block of Main Street. About 3 or 4 blocks east of its location was the FOX Theatre. 1 block to the west of the BIJOU was the Grand Theatre. The Bijou was three doors east of the corner of Roussell St. and Main Street. At that time there was a large bank immediately next door to the east and a bicycle shop and an outboad motor shop (Beverly Johnson’s) to the west. Today the entire property has been purchased by the bank, all original buildings torn down and a new large bank building is on the site of all 4 original buildings. There is no recognizable landmark remaining on the site.
The Bijou and the GRAND were owned by the BIJOU AMUSEMENT COMPANY. By the time I went to work for the BIJOU in mid 1960’s the Grand had been closed but the building was still there between CITY HALL on the corner and Woolworths on the eastern side.
The BIJOU did indeed burn in 1953. My father was a news announcer on the local radio station KCIL and I recall him telling me of his broadcasting the event live all night long. The building was gutted but the original front wall and side walls of the building were salvaged and it was indeed reopened. I can still to this day remember the smells (good smells ) when you would walk into the building. Popcorn, air conditioned upholstered seats and especially the smell of film and projection room “stuff” as you got to the top of the hidden staircase (by the men’s restroom) leading up to the projection room.
The Houma Drive IN was NOT owned by Theater Owners Service Co of New Orleans as stated about. It was owned by the BIJOU AMUSEMENT COMPANY ownedby Johnny Jaccuzo, Arthur Bethancourt and Frank Doiron. I know because I worked at the Houma Drive In as a projectionist during the mid 60’s into the early 70’s. I also worked (simultaneously) at the Bijou Theatre in downtown Houma on Main Street during the same period of time. The aerial photo of the drivein property is a fairly old one as the property was sold to Rouses Supermarket sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s. I have many fond memories working there especially during the summer months when the movie would not start until dark (which was 8-8:30 at night). We would show whichever movie was playing twice a night with an intermission in the middle. The last showing often would end way past midnight. Many of my friends who worked with me would end the night by going camping on the grounds to the rear of the property. As I recall it was 18 acres in size plus a huge undeveloped track of hundres of wooded acres behind it. There was a canal running through the back of the property and we would come to work in our boats (small aluminum frames with small outboards). It was not unusual for us to spend the entire night out camping and return the next day for work without having gone home. In those days that was not a big deal with our parents.
The Southland Cinema was opened by Gulf State Theatres (Teddy Solomon) in June, 1968. It was the second building to go up (Sears was the first) in the mall. Acutally for the first many months the cinema was not enclosed in the mall, it was just a stand alone building next to Sears on the northwest corner. It was originally a SINGLE screen theatre which was expanded to a twin in 1970. Much later on it was converted to a quad. Jesse Marlowe was the original manager.
I was the original projectionist and ran the very first show ever screened which was El Dorado with John Wayne. The Southland Cinema was in a new mall (Southland Mall) directly across the bayou (Bayou Terrebonne) from the Houma Drivein. At that time there were tall trees and foilage so you couldn’t actually see the mall from the Drive In property. I left the Houma Drive in as projectionist to take the job at the Southland Cinema.
I managed the Park Theatre in the early 1970’s. It was indeed a 1200 seat “stadium” theatre. There were about 800 seats on the main floor level and about 400 in the raised rear part of the building. That rear part back then looked more like today’s modern theatres where each row is slightly higher than the one in front so that everyone could easily see over the person in front of them. Only the “balcony” was constructed that way. You would enter the theatre from either side (left or right) down a hallway. When you entered you would essentially be in the midpoint of the theatre. There was a wide aisle running the entire width of the building. On one side of the aisle was the balcony and the other side was the main auditorium seats. There were two aisles running front to back on either side.
I just checked google and apparently the number of MAIN street has drastically changed over the years so what I said in my comment above about it being in the 400-600 block was accurate back then but today it would be 7910 Main Street which houses the Whitney Bank Building now.
The google map photo of the Bijou Theatre is totally inaccurate. It is not where NEAR the location of the BIJOU theatre. The Bijou was located in maybe the 400 to 600 block of Main Street. About 3 or 4 blocks east of its location was the FOX Theatre. 1 block to the west of the BIJOU was the Grand Theatre. The Bijou was three doors east of the corner of Roussell St. and Main Street. At that time there was a large bank immediately next door to the east and a bicycle shop and an outboad motor shop (Beverly Johnson’s) to the west. Today the entire property has been purchased by the bank, all original buildings torn down and a new large bank building is on the site of all 4 original buildings. There is no recognizable landmark remaining on the site.
The Bijou and the GRAND were owned by the BIJOU AMUSEMENT COMPANY. By the time I went to work for the BIJOU in mid 1960’s the Grand had been closed but the building was still there between CITY HALL on the corner and Woolworths on the eastern side.
The BIJOU did indeed burn in 1953. My father was a news announcer on the local radio station KCIL and I recall him telling me of his broadcasting the event live all night long. The building was gutted but the original front wall and side walls of the building were salvaged and it was indeed reopened. I can still to this day remember the smells (good smells) when you would walk into the building. Popcorn, air conditioned upholstered seats and especially the smell of film and projection room “stuff” as you got to the top of the hidden staircase (by the men’s restroom) leading up to the projection room.
The Houma Drive IN was NOT owned by Theater Owners Service Co of New Orleans as stated about. It was owned by the BIJOU AMUSEMENT COMPANY ownedby Johnny Jaccuzo, Arthur Bethancourt and Frank Doiron. I know because I worked at the Houma Drive In as a projectionist during the mid 60’s into the early 70’s. I also worked (simultaneously) at the Bijou Theatre in downtown Houma on Main Street during the same period of time. The aerial photo of the drivein property is a fairly old one as the property was sold to Rouses Supermarket sometime in the late 70’s or early 80’s. I have many fond memories working there especially during the summer months when the movie would not start until dark (which was 8-8:30 at night). We would show whichever movie was playing twice a night with an intermission in the middle. The last showing often would end way past midnight. Many of my friends who worked with me would end the night by going camping on the grounds to the rear of the property. As I recall it was 18 acres in size plus a huge undeveloped track of hundres of wooded acres behind it. There was a canal running through the back of the property and we would come to work in our boats (small aluminum frames with small outboards). It was not unusual for us to spend the entire night out camping and return the next day for work without having gone home. In those days that was not a big deal with our parents.