Pussycat Adult Theatre
3615 Tulane Avenue,
New Orleans,
LA
70119
3615 Tulane Avenue,
New Orleans,
LA
70119
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Martin Theatres, Pussycat Theatres, Trans-Lux Movies Corp.
Firms: Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild & Paschel
Previous Names: Martin Cinerama, Trans-Lux Cinerama, Cinerama Adult Theatre, Sinerama Adult Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 31, 2013 — "2001: A Space Odyssey" 45th Anniversary – The Cinerama Engagements
- Jun 6, 2012 — REMEMBERING CINERAMA (Part 52: New Orleans)
The theatre opened as the Martin Cinerama with the three-strip process presenting “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm”. The screen was 96ft wide and 32ft high. It was sold to Trans-Lux Theatres in the late-1960’s where it completed it’s life as a regular movie theatre.
After screening a re-issue of “This Is Cinerama” on November 1973, it changed hands becoming the Cinerama Adult Theatre, followed by Sinerama Adult Theatre following complaints from the Cinerama company for using its name. It was taken over by the Pussycat Theatres chain showing porno films until the early-1980’s.
It then became the Riverboat Hallelujah, a reception hall and bingo venue which opened on August 2, 1987. It was demolished in February 2001 and is now the site of another drugstore.
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
According to this website, the architects for the New Orleans and St. Louis Martin Cinerama theaters were Cinerama Inc., and Finch Alexander Barnes Rothschild and Paschal: View link
I saw Mary Poppins at this theater in 1964 when I was 7 years old.
Announcing a book about New Orleans Movie Theaters
THEREâ€\S ONE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
The History of the Neighborhood Theaters in New Orleans
is being written by 89-year-old Rene Brunet, the dean of the motion picture industry in Louisiana, and New Orleans historian and preservationist Jack Stewart. The 160-page,coffee table book will be released in November and is being published by Arthur Hardy Enterprises, Inc. Attention will be focused on 50 major neighborhood and downtown theaters, culled from a list of nearly 250 that have dotted the cityâ€\s landscape since the first “nickelodeon†opened in 1896 at 626 Canal Street. The book will be divided by neighborhoods and will open with a map and a narrative about each area. Each major theater will feature “then and now†photographs, historic information, and a short series of quotes from famous New Orleanians and from regular citizens who will share their recollections.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
We are trying to acquire memorabilia and additional photos of this theater for this publication. (deadline July 1.) You will be credited in the book and receive a free autographed copy if we publish the picture that you supply. Please contact Arthur Hardy at or call 504-913-1563 if you can help.
I remember seeing “How The West Was Won” at Martin’s Cinerama, right off Tulane. Three projectors on the huge curved screen. Pretty cool for its time.
Great “Sinerama” photo posted by DriveinMike on 9/12/08.
I remember seeing a bunch of movies here. How the West was Won, 2001 a Space Oddicy and many more. Also saw a good many when it was the Sinarama. Brandie and I had some great erotic adventures in the balcony. NN
The Cinerama Engagements of “How The West Was Won”,
“Circus World”, “Ice Station Zebra”, “2001”, along with
“Battle of the Bulge”, “Krakatoa:East of Java” to
“The Wonderful World of the Brother Grimm”, not to mention “Custer’s Last Stand”, “Khartoum” to
“The Greatest Story Ever Told”,“It’s A Mad,Mad World”
MARTIN’S CINERAMA THEATRE OF NEW ORLEANS
I knew this only as “Trans-Lux” Cinerama. I saw Woodstock there in 1970 as a teenager visiting New Orleans, and was totally blown away. Went back twice by bus on weekends just to see it again. I remember that patrons were not allowed to take refreshments into the theatre (even items purchased at the snack bar).
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Cinerama’s lengthy run is mentioned in the piece.
The original Cinerama Theatre concept was unveiled in July of 1953 by H.A. Broussard and the ultra-wide cinema was drawn up by architect Robert L. Stephan. It was as part of a shopping center that was perfect for its era - except that it wasn’t built. Almost 10 years later, in 1962, ultra-widescreen specialist Martin Theatres rekindled the project announcing theaters in six cities including right here in NOLA.Martin used architects Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild and Paschal Associates of Atlanta as the main firm with Curtis & Davis as the local associates.
The $1,000,000 Martin Cinerama Theatre was ready to go January 17, 1963 as the first hardtop theater built since the War years. “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” and a carefully selected group of usherettes were on hand. Producer George Pal was on hand to greet attendees. Cinerama spectacles were slow to the marketplace so features could play months at a time. As a result, the theater’s halcyon days were all in the 1960s.
Trans-Lux took on the venue buoyed by “2001: A Space Odyssey” beginning on May 29, 1969. But the hits were evasive thereafter. The venue even tried porno-chic era adult films as a foreshadowing of the Cinearama Theater’s shaky future. Trans-Lux’s Cinerama with its Hollywood features discontinued service after “The Four Musketeers” on April 17, 1975 citing years of losses. The next day, Griffith Enterprises of Miami took on the rocking seat theater as the renamed Cinerama Adult Theatre on a subleasing agreement with a double-feature of “The Devil in Miss Jones” and “Deep Throat” in the peak of the porno chic era operating as the Cinerama Adult Theatre.
Two challenges were not far off. The first was that a local judge ruled that “Deep Throat” was obscene and Donald James as manager of the adult theatre was responsible. “The Genius,” another adult film screened there, was also deemed obscene. So the venue was a lightning rod of police activity.
The second problem was that Cinerama wasn’t cool with the trademarked Cinerama being used without modification. So the venue received a new, new name: the Sinerama Adult Theatre - still using the logo albeit with one letter changed. They were then told to remove the logo - which they did because the venue was a hit no matter the trademark. It would morph into the Pussycat Adult Theatre in 1982 under a new operator. That ended at what appears to be the end of a 25-year leasing agreement. The adult movies would end with seating on the reconfigured main floor created for a bingo hall under a concept called Riverboat Hallelujah. It opened on August 2, 1987. The venue was torn down in February of 2001.
(The entry would be better served as Trans-Lux Cinerama. The use of Sinerama - aka Sinerama Adult Theatre - as a second to last exhibition name is confusing; and the final cinematic name - Pussycat Adult Theatre - doesn’t represent the entry well. Its main origin and intent is that of Cineramatic exhibition.)