Daeshawn Armstead Staff
The Southland Cinema was opened in 1968 in the Southland Mall in Houma, Louisiana. It was originally a single screen theater but was converted to a twin theater which featured more than one movie screen. The cinema was opened by Gulf States Theatres, an entertainment company located in New Orleans. As the theater’s business expanded it was later converted into a quad.
“As a kid walking into Southland Cinema, I can just remember how big the space was,” says Kyle Crispino, who frequented the cinema as a child. “It was only four theaters but it felt like a maze.”
For more than 30 years, Southland Cinema was one of the only theaters in the Houma area.
In 2000, the theater was taken over by the United Artists Theatre Circuit, a motion picture company and later abandoned. The theater was then sold in 2004 to partners Kearson Levett and Barry Bynum of Houma. But declining numbers finally forced them to close permanently in 2007.
“It was one of the only fun places to go, so I was sad when it closed,” Crispino says.
"It was one of the only fun places to go, so I was sad when it closed."
But the new owners couldn’t afford the auditorium so they made it a discount cinema. Then in 2007, the cinema was closed permanently and what was left of the theater was transferred to the AMC Theater located in Houma.
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Jet Drive-In
Kelby Toups Staff For more than 40 years, Cut Off, Louisiana, was the home of one of the Bayou Region’s most popular youth hangout spots. Jet Drive-In was a drive-in movie theater built in 1953, founded and owned by Richard ‘Dick’ Guidry and Lefty Cheramie. At the time of the drive-in’s opening, the Korean War had begun and jet aircrafts were the newest, modern thing. So, Guidry and Cheramie decided on the name “Jet” because of the short name that kept the price of their neon sign down. “They would show one movie from Sunday to Wednesday,” says Dennis Guidry, son of the founder Richard Guidry. “They would have a showing on Thursday for ‘Bank Night’ which I never understood what that was. Lastly, [they] showed another movie Friday and Saturday.” Dennis Guidry told a story about a movie called “The Moon is Blue,” a romantic comedy film released in 1953, that became very controversial for profanity throughout the film. And while the movie was banned nationally, the drive-In showed the film for four weeks straight. “It was unheard of, especially on the bayou,” says Dennis Guidry. “It was unheard of, especially on the bayou.” Dennis Guidry Richard Guidry passed the drive-in down to Dennis Guidry who took ownership in 1980. On opening night, they would show “White Lightning” with Burt Reynolds and the line went out of the parking lot. Wade Fanguy, a Larose native, says that one of the last films he remembered seeing was “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “It was interesting because it was an audience participation type of show and I think there may be very few films that still do that,” he says. Eventually Dennis Guidry sold the cinema and, under the new owners, it closed for good in the late 1990s. Currently, the building where the cinema used to stand is now the Greater Lafourche Port Commission. more movie coverage
Houma Drive-In
Victoria Davis-Abad Staff The Houma Drive-In Theater operated from June 30, 1950 into the 1980s and could accommodate 300 cars, according to the Cinema Treasures website. The theater was owned by the Bijou Amusement Company, a movie theater business headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The drive-in theater closed in 1980 and was replaced with a Thibodaux-based Rouses supermarket. Houma Drive-In Ticket Booth Drive-In Easter Egg Hunt Cable Speakers for Drive-In Houma Drive-In News Article Late Houma Drive-In, now Rouses Market Abandoned Houma Drive-In, 1980s A Houma Drive-In movie schedule in a 1950s local newspaper. more movie coverage