Cine Royale

The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook has a Center Theatre listed at 910 Canal Street with 600 seats.....same theatre?

I believe this theater was known as the Center Theater before its name was changed. At some point this theater became an adult theater, probably in the 1970's.

Here is some additional information:
http://tinyurl.com/yf2ubt

This website has a legal document from 1979 concerning obscenity charges. One of the defendants is the owner/operator of the Cine Royale Theater.

I have a Cine Royale picture from my black and white phototograpy days that I am in the process of editing for my flickr site to be posted soon.

My b&w photograph of the Cine Royale and front of the building.
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/313704532

I was a projectionist in the 70's, and later manager of the Cine' Royale theatre.
The theatre opened as the Wonderland and had a fire in 1935. It re-opened as the Center in 1936, and continued to operate under that name until 1968, when the owner, Mr. Isadore Lazarus, had a heart attack, then sold the theatre.
The Lazarus family owned a small chain of theatres in New Orleans, namely the Circle, the Carver, the Crown, the Cinema (aka Casino), and the Coliseum, where I also worked as the last projectionist in 1976.
In 1968, the theatre was remodeled, and re-named the Cine' Royale. It was operated by National General Theatres, then Mann Theatres, and in 1976, was acquired by International Theatres Unlimited, bringing adult movies in. ITU also operated the Paris theatre at this time.
ITU was owned by George Echols, and in (about) 1980, he was convicted of obscinity, and the theatre was sold to Essex, an adult film company who at that time, produced top quality adult product. Remember, this was in a day where the adult industry was trying to become legit, by making nearly Hollywood quality movies.
Essex operated both the Paris & Cine' Royale until they were busted for Interstate transportation of obscene material, then the theatre was acquired by Leroy Griffith of Miami Beach, who previously operated the Pussycat in New Orleans, which was an old Cinerama theatre.
In 1997, the theatre was sold to Walgreens Co., and became part of the expansion of the store located at 900 Canal St.
Looking now, you would never know that a theatre was on this site for nearly a century.

Hello drive-mike and thank you for the very informative and interesting post.

Do you know if the Walgreens survived the flood?

Don.........

Hi Don:
The Walgreens at 900 Canal St. did get damaged in the hurricane, but from what a relative who still lives in New Orleans tells me, it's back open, and all of the nostalgic neon sign is lit again.
Here is a link to a photo of the Cine' Royale in the late 70's.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z105/moviemike/CineRoyalelate70s.jpg

Thanks for the good news and photo link. That is my favorite area of New Orleans.

Here's an ad for a the Center Theatre in 1963:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z105/moviemike/New%20Orleans%20photos/Center1963ad.jpg

Here's a very nice photo of the Center:
http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/u?/CLF,6009

Here's an ad for the Cine Royale from 1976:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z105/moviemike/CineRoyalead1976.jpg

I can remember visiting drive-in-mike at the Cine back in the late 70s. Mike and I have been friends since the seventh grade and our friendship has endured into our 50s.