Jeff Theatre
4421 Jefferson Highway,
New Orleans,
LA
70121
4421 Jefferson Highway,
New Orleans,
LA
70121
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 5 comments
The suburban Jeff Theatre launched on September 9, 1940 with “If I Had My Way (I’d go to the Jeff Theatre)”. The name was taken from the “Jeff” or Jefferson Parish and run successfully in the War years but was gone in the early TV age.
The Jeff was refreshed and reopened on July 27, 1951 with “Great Missouri Raid” for its final stretch run. Just months later, the Jeff was reduced to two day a week operation and the remodeling money went for naught with the Jeff closing permanently on December 15, 1951 with “Cavalry Scout” and “Ma & Pa Kettle.” A classified ad soon appeared selling off 940 theatre seats. The long-running Jefferson Feed Store opened in the location on October 3, 1959 keeping the cinema’s attractor.
September 9, 1940 grand opening with “If I Had My Way (I’d go to the Jeff Theatre)”.
Someone working in the feed store, had told me the name of the theater and that it closed in 1950. The marquee aside, the front doors and the lobby are pretty much intact today. You can tell just being inside that “once upon a time”….
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.
The September 27, 1941, issue of Boxoffice said this: “The Jeff Theatre, operated by W. H. Castay, will be one year old September 29.”
“Bill” Castay (whose first name was actually Walter, not William) also operated the Arrow Theatre in New Orleans, and operated the Jeff Theatre at least as late as 1950. He was still operating the Arrow in 1959, but I haven’t found the Jeff mentioned later than 1952.