New Orleans, in its illustrious history, has had the distinction of celebrating many firsts. In fact, jazz, the very
first art form in North America, was born in New Orleans. Just as virtually everyone knows that New Orleans is the birth place
of jazz, the opposite holds true in the fact few people know that the very first movie theatre in North America was also in
New Orleans.
The first movie in New Orleans was shown on an outdoor screen on the lakefront June 28, 1896, by Allen
B. Blakemore, an electrical engineer for the New Orleans City and Lake Railroad. Blakemore reduced the five-hundred-volt current
from the trolley line for his wonderful vitascope machine by way of a water rheostat.
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On July 26, 1896, the first permanent home for showing movies in the United States was opened at 623 Canal Street, corner
of Exchange Alley. The name of the theatre was Vitascope Hall. Cost for admission was 10 cents. For an extra 10 cents, you
could get a look into the booth where the man was operating the vitascope. If you really wanted to splurge, for another 10
cents you could get a frame of discarded film. Some noted people said it was a fad that would soon pass. The theatre accommodated
400 people and had two shows per day. The first was from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theatre was reopened at 5 p.m. and stayed open
until 10 p.m. Movies in 1896 were not long movies like today. They were made up of little skits strung together very loosely.
They usually consisted of a fight scene, a floozy doing a hoochy-coochy dance, slapstick comics, and possibly even an embrace
ending with a long, lingering sensual kiss
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