Title (Year)
Internet Movie Database & New York Times Review (free registration
required for full NYT reviews) |
Review/Comments |
Abott and Costello Go to Mars
(1953)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
One of the later, and worse, movies that Abbott & Costello
made has a New Orleans plot twist. Our heroes bumble their way into
the stratosphere but instead of landing on Mars, they find themselves
in New Orleans on Mardi Gras day. The locals are all dressed in costumes
with large paper maché heads and are, of course, mistaken for Martians.
The New Orleans sequence - filmed on Hollywood back lots - is one
of the only two somewhat redeeming highlights of this largely forgettable
entry into the duo's movie franchise. The other is Anita Eckberg and
other Miss Universe contestants playing the inhabitants of Venus once
the narrative actually reaches outer space. |
Angel Heart
(1987)
IMDB
NYT
Review
|
Dismissed by many critics, 1987's Angel Heart is a polarizing,
love-it or hate-it movie. This highly stylized noir thriller set in
the 1950s follows a New York private detective to New Orleans on a
case that has more twists and turns than the back alleys of the French
Quarter where much of the movie was filmed. |
The Big Easy
(1987)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Opinions are divided in New Orleans about The Big Easy,
starring Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin. Some think that its one of
the worst movies ever made about New Orleans, and some think, no,
it is the worst movie ever made about New Orleans. Yes,
its a decent story and the leading stars are great together, but somehow
The Big Easy combines every cheesy cliche about New Orleans and every
hackneyed corrupt cop plot point into one movie. |
Candyman: Farewell
to the Flesh
(1995)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
The second in what is, so far, a trio of movies based
loosely - very loosely, apparently - on a Clive Barker short story.
This one traces the origin of Candyman in, yes, New Orleans as he
is inadvertently summoned here by the daughter of one of this victims
from the first movie. The first Candyman series is well-liked by fans
of the slasher genre, and its sequel does a decent job of using New
Orleans as the setting for some spooky goings-on (i.e., not as atmospheric
as Angel Heart but not as cheesy as Mardi Gras for the Devil). Candyman's
backstory in antebellum New Orleans is pretty intense and touches
on several racial taboos of the time in a half-hearted effort to interject
some historic drama into this decent horror flick. Starting out strong,
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (which isn't exactly what "carnivale"
means, but whatever) peters out towards the end, and Mardi Gras at
night in the Quarter is NEVER as quiet as it is depicted here. |
Cincinnati Kid,
The
(1965)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
In New Orleans during the Great Depression, Steve McQueen
is the local top poker player and Edward G. Robinson is the big shot
from up north who comes to town to play him in a high-stakes show-down.
Also stars Karl Malden, Ann-Margaret, and Tuesday Weld. Though the
last half of the movie takes place in the hotel room where the poker
game occurs, even the interior scenes throughout the entire movie
are rich with New Orleans atmosphere. Watch Robinson to learn the
proper technique for eating oysters on the half shell. |
Deja Vu (2006)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
The first movie filmed in New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina, this science fiction/domestic terrorist thriller
is a great popcorn action movie, but its setting in New Orleans can
actually be a distraction. The city is grateful the producers spent
their money here, but the location doesn't really add anything to
the story. |
Down in New Orleans
(2005)
IMDB
|
Touted as the last film made in New Orleans
before Hurricane Katrina, Down In New Orleans suffers from some of
the same maladies that pain many independent movie productions: unbalanced
pacing, stilted dialogue, and ham-handed editing. Plus, it takes about
twenty minutes to awkwardly work up to the story that the writer/director
really wants to tell, but once that point arrives the movie is pretty
good. Filmed all over the city, its great for locals to use to play
"name that location". The heart of the story is a harrowing tale of
drug addiction that is surprisingly well-made and more gut-wrenching
that the most difficult parts of Trainspotting and Requim for a Dream.
But a gratuitous use of non-linear narrative is also a trendy indy
flaw that further mars this movie. |
Down by Law (1986)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
One of the best movies to truly capture
life below the surface of New Orleans is Down by Law. Jim Jarmusch's
black and white 1986 film is a study of three characters living on
the margins of New Orleans' criminal underworld. Though most of the
movie occurs while the three main characters in jail and after they
escape to the countryside, the first third that takes place in the
city is one of the most accurate cinematic evocations of the Crescent
City. |
Dracula 2000 (2000, DUH!)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Yes, Dracula is back and he's better than ever, coming
to New Orleans during Mardi Gras in search of the present-day descendent
of Dr. Van Helsing; don't worry about the details, just let the story
flow and in the end it all works together pretty well. With higher
productions values than you might expect from a movie with a title
like this, it puts a new wrinkle on the Dracula mythos and isn't as
ridiculous as it sounds like it might be. |
Drowning Pool, The (1975)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Paul Newman reprises his "Harper" role ten years after
the original eponymous 1966 movie. A routine blackmail investigation
turns leads deeper into family intrigue, oil, environmental concerns,
and homicide. New Orleans and its surroundings serve as the backdrop
for one of Newman's best but very underrated 1970s film roles. Though
the original Ross Macdonald novel was set in California, the characters
in the movie adaptation come across as authentic Louisianans and little
about the settings are cheesy or cliched and everything fits in with
a story that couldn't have taken place anywhere else. |
Flame of New Orleans
(1941)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Marlene Dietrich takes her turn in a movie set in antebellum
New Orleans. A lightweight farcical comedy where she is forced to
pretend she has a cousin who, surprisingly, looks just like her. Filmed
in California (nowhere in New Orleans are there hills like the ones
in the park during the carriage ride sequence), an uncredited Shemp
Howard playing a waiter was one of few things in this movie that is
worth mentioning. |
Girl in Trouble (1963)
IMDB
NYT
Review Summary (Its VERY unlikely anyone from the New York
Times actually saw this, based on the summary - it sounds more like
the studio's description) |
One of several cheap exploitation movies set in New
Orleans that were made in the 50s and 60s, this one has a prototypical
"farmer's daughter goes bad in the big city" plot. But much of the
tedious early set-up and exterior scenes throughout have good black
and white shots of New Orleans from the early 1960s, including the
final scene at Charity Hospital where the protagonist's boyfriend
from back home finally catches up with her to bring her home. Competently
made, but on the cheap - the sparse dialogue was dubbed in post-production,
and tedious dialogue fills in the silence elsewhere: "the smell of
stale smoke, bad liquor, and the aftermath of last-night's bought
and paid for dreams" is how our heroine describes the Bourbon Street
"burlesque" club that she is reduced to working in. Only worthwhile
for fans of true B-movies, or locals interested in a snapshot of what
much of New Orleans looked like over forty-five years ago. |
Happy Here and Now
(2002)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Review Forthcoming |
Hard Target
(1993)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Review Forthcoming |
Hard Times
(1975)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Charles Bronson plays a bare knuckles pick-up fighter
and James Coburn is his partner/manager who escorts him into the world
of New Orleans no-rules fighting. As Bronson explains it to his semi-love
interest, what he does is not prize fighting and all the money is
made from bets. Coburn borrows from a loan shark and leverages the
money with a fight out in cajun country to get the three grand they
need to fight the local big shot's top fighter at three to one odds.
Bronson wins but Coburn gambles his share away at craps and then Bronson
has to be convinced to fight one more town to win the money to pay
Coburn's debt.
Great scenery of New Orleans does a good job of providing a realistic
setting for the movie. Its pretty free of your typical "Big Easy"
cliches. A good, solid movie about tough characters in tough times;
you just have to accept that Bronson pretty much has a one-note delivery
throughout, which fits the character unless you realize that he basically
played every role he ever had the same way. This would make a great
double feature with "The Cincinatti Kid"
for a double feature of two depression era sports movies set in New
Orleans. Director Walter Hill would revisit New Orleans fourteen years
later as the setting for Johnny Handsome. |
Heaven's Prisoners
(1996)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Like the acclaimed detective novels of James Lee Burke,
one of which is the source for "Heaven's Prisoners", this movie is
an above-average example of the genre. Yes, we get some of the standard
cliches - the mandatory visit to a strip club during an investigation,
a low-level thug beating up the protagonist as a warning, etc. - but
director Phil Joanou approaches the material with a slow, moody pace
and uses the bayou, plantation, and New Orleans settings for maximum
atmospheric effect. After rescuing a young girl from a plane crash
in the bayou, former New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux, played
by Alec Baldwin, gets drawn back into elements of the life he wanted
to leave behind when he quick and opened up his bait shop. Tragedy
ensues and his investigation turns into a search for revenge. One
of the best movies set, and filmed, in and around New Orleans. |
Hot Thrills and Warm Chills (1967)
IMDB
NYT
Summary |
If you've never seen a true "grind house" "Z movie",
Hot Thrills and Warm Chills is a perfect example of the genre. Technical
competence and functional narrative are almost non-existent in this
stitched-together thing. Footage and out-takes from other uncomplete
projects and out-takes were likely padded with the actors running
around New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Pretty unredeemable unless you
need proof that classic "bad" movies like "Plan 9 From Outer Space"
aren't the worst movies ever made. |
Jezebel
(1938)
IMDB
|
Set in Antebellum New Orleans, Bette Davis won an Oscar
for her portrayal of a headstrong young socialite opposite Henry Fonda.
With the Civil War still years away, the dramatic force in this story
is an epidemic of yellow fever that sweeps the city and sends anyone
who can make it out to plantation country. All around well acted and
produced. |
JD's Revenge
(1976)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
The plot summary says it all - an unassuming New Orleans
law student is possessed by the spirit of a dead 1940s gangster who
seeks revenge against his killer. This "blaxploitation" movie is gory
at points without being scary, and probably wasn't as shocking as
the filmmakers hoped it would be even when it was released. Its played
straight, not campy, though you desperately wish the cast and crew
knew how ridiculous it was and just played it for laughs and the high
concept instead of thinking it would really scare anybody or make
us care about whether JD ultimately gets his revenge from beyond the
grave. Great scenery of New Orleans - the opening scene is a pick-up
game of football at the old Tulane Stadium. |
J.F.K. (1991)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
In 1967, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison
did indeed prosecute New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw for conspiracy
for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Beyond that factual
basis, Oliver Stone's movie devolves into its own "mystery wrapped
in a riddle inside an enigma". J.F.K. was filmed on location
in New Orleans and whatever you make of Stone's theories, the movie
itself is pretty good. |
Johnny Handsome (1989)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Mickey Rourke stars as a deformed two-bit hood in New
Orleans. After a heist goes bad he is arrested and gets knifed in
prison. There, surgeons fix his appearance and after he is paroled
he is unrecognizable and thus free to seek revenge on his double-crossing
former accomplices. Overall a pretty good crime drama set and filmed
in new Orleans, with an impressive supporting cast at different stages
of their careers, including Lance Henrikson, Ellen Barkin, Forrest
Whitaker and Morgan Freeman. |
King Creole
(1958)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Elvis's fourth movie is considered by many fans to be
his best, and he once mentioned that it was his favorite. He plays
a busboy at a French Quarter nightclub trying to realize his musical
dreams despite his father's disapproval and most of the excellent
musical numbers spring organically from the story. It arguably shows
the direction Elvis could have developed as an actor, before descending
into cinematic mediocrities such as "Kissin' Cousins". |
A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
IMDB
NYT Review |
If you can get over seeing John Travolta play a seedy, alcoholic,
former literature professor and look beyond the somewhat tedious
"search for family" plot involving Scarlett Johansson, 2004's A
Love Song for Bobby Long offers some of the best filmed scenes of
New Orleans in recent years and is a good cinematic preservation
of what a lot of the city looked like prior to Hurricane Katrina.
Just don't try to duplicate the walk home that Travolta's character
takes over the beginning credits: its about twenty miles long and
would involve crossing the river a few times (but hey, whatever
- it looks beautiful.) For those of us who loved Barfly,
stories of destitute "life on the skids" characters like these always
have a perverse appeal.
|
Mandingo
(1975)
IMDB
|
Review Forthcoming |
Monster and the Stripper (1968)
IMDB
NYT
Summary |
When hunters in the swamps of Louisiana capture a pre-human
creature, their logical choice of a place to exhibit it is, of course,
a Bourbon Street strip club. Violence ensues and much padding is added
to fill out the movie's runtime. A cheap, pretty bad attempt at a
horror movie, but at least the cast and film makers weren't taking
themselves too seriously. Includes some pretty good period footage
of New Orleans and the French Quarter. |
New Orleans
(1947)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
A whisper-thin plot weaves together the musical performances
in this semi-obscure, vintage Hollywood musical. But the performances
- and the performers - more than make up for it: Louis Armstrong,
Billie Holliday, Kid Ory, and others provide astute lessons in the
tangled evolution of jazz, blues, ragtime, and dixieland in New Orleans
circa 1917. The story in the second half of the movie meanders through
Chicago and Birmingham - Birmingham, England that is (don't
ask) - but luckily the music is never more than seven or eight minutes
of tedious dialog away. |
No Mercy
(1986)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Review Forthcoming |
Number One
(1969)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Review Forthcoming |
On Hostile Ground
(2001)
IMDB
|
Ever wonder what a cheesy, 1970s-style disaster movie
set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras would be like? This 2000 made-for-TV
movie concerns a giant sinkhole that threatens to swallow parades
and revelers on Fat Tuesday unless the hero-geologist can pump something
that looks like insulating foam underground to shore up the French
Quarter. This may actually beat out "The Big Easy" as the worst movie
about New Orleans. |
Panic in the Streets
(1950)
IMDB
|
A unique film noir title from Elia Kazan. Our hero is
not a cop or a detective, but an officer of the U.S. Public Health
Service. Some local small-time thugs, led by a young Jack Palance
in his movie debut, have killed an interloper recently arrived from
South America. They are, however, unaware that their victim was infected
with pneumonic plague. The PHS officer, played by Richard Widmark,
must overcome numerous bureaucratic obstacles to get the New Orleans
police and city to help track down the killers before a epidemic begins
but without starting, yes, a Panic in the Streets. |
Pretty Baby
(1978)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
While Louis Malle's controversial "Pretty Baby" (1978)
may have garnered unwanted attention for the salacious scenes with
a pre-teen Brooke Shields, the movie is a beautifully filmed representation
of New Orleans' Storyville, the red light districtwhere prostitution
was legal up through the early 20th century. Semi-based on - or "inspired
by" - the story of photographer Ernest Bellocq's photographs of prostitutes
in the brothels of Storyville. |
Runaway Jury
(2003)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Contemporary New Orleans (pre-Katrina by a few years)
is the background for this typical John Grisham legal thriller. The
jury manipulation plot with a surprise twist nicely weaves in the
New Orleans setting in what is perhaps one of the better cinematic
adaptation of Grisham's work. |
Saratoga Trunk
(1945)
IMDB
NYT Review |
Review Forthcoming |
The Skeleton Key
(2005)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
This is a pre-Katrina psychological thriller partially
set in the city of New Orleans. The other part of the movie is set
in the bayou, showcasing the lush vegetation of Louisiana while capturing
the musty, crumbling quality of a plantation house. I like this movie
because it has an interesting twist and provides some insight into
the Louisiana culture. The food is spicy, there is a lot of beer,
and the ancient is mixed in with the modern. For example, the local
houdoun (different from voodoo) shop is in the back part of a laundromat.
Of course, the movie reveals its Hollywood roots in that the streets
in the movie are waaaay too clean and nicely paved to show a true
picture of New Orleans, especially post-K. Also, there are no dogs
lounging under tables at outdoor cafes. In all, this is a fun kick-back-and-eat-popcorn-on-Friday-night
type movie. Enjoy! (Amy Hale-Jenke) |
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Review Forthcoming |
Suddenly Last Summer
(1959)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
In "Suddenly Last Summer" New Orleans is only a setting
in the literary sense: the movie itself was filmed on sound stages
in London. But the city infuses every scene such as where Katherine
Hepburn's aging matron discusses her fantastic garden and when she
demonstrates how the upper-crust of proper southern society properly
pronounce "daquiri" (da-kir-`rei). Gore Vidal helped adapt the Tennessee
Williams play and though the restrictions of the era forced the filmmakers
to blur over some of the more salacious and explicit elements of the
play, this is still a good, involving tale of southern familial intrigue
and insanity. Also starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. |
Swamp Women
(1955)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
B Movie king and indy film hero Roger Corman's directorial
debut interviews some mid-1950s Mardi Gras footage into this cheap
"prison women on the run" movie (aka "Cruel Swamp" and "Swamp Diamonds").
A somewhat fun, very laughably bad movie so unremarkable that it is
actually in the public domain and available in full for streaming
or download at archive.org.
|
This Property Is Condemned
(1966)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
"Suggested" by a one-act Tennessee Williams' play and
directed by Sydney Pollack, this cinematic fleshing-out (co-scripted
by Francis Ford Coppola) is a solid Southern Gothic mother-daughter
drama. New Orleans exists throughout much of the movie only in the
characters' imagination as the ultimate place to escape to and shed
their small-town baggage. Starring Natalie Wood and Robert Redford,
her character eventually chases after his and finds him when New Orleans
finally makes its appearance in the last twenty minutes of the movie.
The French Quarter looks great during a rainy night-time sequence
and just when it appears that the adaptation may have steered the
movie version to a happy ending, tragedy ensues in true Williams fashion.
Also stars a thirteen-year old Mary Badham, in one of her only other
movie roles after playing Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird". |
Tightrope
(1984)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
Clint Eastwood plays a divorced New Orleans police detective.
While on the trail of a serial killer, his own questionable moral
character blurs the lines between right and wrong, good and bad, and
cop and suspect. Filmed on location in New Orleans, the scenery is
good and the depiction of the city is fairly accurate in this above-action
cop and serial killer movie. |
Toast of New Orleans
(1950)
IMDB
NYT
Summary |
Review Forthcoming |
Undercover Blues
(1993)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
In this high-concept screwball-esque comedy, Dennis
Quaid and Kathleen Turner star as married government agents on maternity
leave in New Orleans with their baby girl. In between dispatching
local muggers with finely-honed martial arts techniques, they, of
course, get called back to duty on an urgent case conveniently centered
in New Orleans and which takes them all over the most scenic parts
of the city. Pretty good dialogue and decent action scenes help to
make this movie a good bit less ridiculous than it deserves to be. |
Voodoo Tailz
(2002)
IMDB
|
Three USC sorority sisters come to New Orleans for Mardi
gras. An ancient voodoo cult has been kidnapping visiting girls during
Mardi Gras for many years, soon one of the girls is missing, etc.,
etc. This movie, shot on digital back before digital was cool (and
when it still looked cheap) isn't bad enough to be fun, and isn't
good enough to be scary, engaging, or more interesting that the episode
of Scooby-Doo set in New Orleans. There isn't even any decent violence
until the end and for a group of sorority girls, there's a complete
lack of sexiness (maybe they are part of USC's Mormon sorority but
then, no, one of them is black). |
Walk on the Wild Side
(1962)
IMDB
NYT
Review |
During the depression, two drifters, Dove Linkhorn and
Kitty Twist (gotta love those names) - played by Lawrence Harvey and
a young Jane Fonda - cross paths while hitch-hiking out of Texas to
New Orleans. They part ways in the city as Dove tracks down his ex-girlfriend.
He eventually finds here working in a French Quarter brothel where,
yes, Kitty has just been hired as the new girl. An excellent Elmer
Bernstein score and great dialogue punched up by John Fante from a
Nelson Algren novel balance out the campy, trashy elements of this
gritty, noirish movie. |
Zandalee
(1991)
IMDB
|
Zandalee is a sultry tale of a love triangle set in
1990s New Orleans and surroundings. It features much over-acting by
a young Nicholas Cage and enough sex scenes to guarantee it decent
revenue when it went straight to video. Scenes of the French Quarter
and the swamps in bayou country are attractively filmed, so perhaps
it would be better to play this with the sound turned down and a Dr.
John CD playing in the background. While reading a good book. |