New Orleans Mardi Gras & Film

Many films have been made and set in New Orleans. Some of them weren’t the best of films, but we remember them anyway. Well, I do.

Many of the films try to incorporate what New Orleans has come to be known for. There’s the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, The Superdome, Voodoo and the Cemeteries.

The French Quarter and Mardi Gras seem to go hand in hand even though no large parade has gone through the French Quarter since 1972 when the Krewe of Bacchus turned off of N. Rampart onto St. Ann. Their theme that year was The Bacchus Book of Horrors. I’ve never forget it as King Kong strolled down the street. It was a different Kong than the one that has become a staple of the Krewe. A young blonde sat in the palm of Kong’s hand above the crowd screaming her lungs out just as Faye Ray had done. As Kong moved further into the Quarter he got tangled up in some of the electrical wiring and the lights went out.

So when movies show something that hasn’t happened in a long time it just rubs me the wrong way. LOL.

Harry Connick, Jr. in his Krewe Orpheus.

There was a film called Murder at the Mardi Gras. I know, I don’t remember it either. Then there was The Killer Bees. All I remember about this film was that the Superdome was newly built and hadn’t even been used for any event. There was a scene in which they figured to get rid of the bees they would drive them inside of the superdome and freeze them. Sharon Glass was the star of this film as she sat in the yellow Volkswagon. The bees were lured onto her vehicle and she drove slowly down the street inside the superdome. Once the bees were frozen she was able to get out of the car. The End.

Then there was Candy Man, Farewell to the Flesh. I happened to be on the set of this film and I knew quite a few people involved in the project. Once again Mardi Gras made an appearance as did a Cemetery and of course the French Quarter.

The Clydesdale horses are a significant part of Mardi Gras and are featured in several parades throughout the season.

Then there was Double Jeopardy which starred Ashley Judd. I’m not sure if there was a Mardi Gras scene, but there was a cemetery scene and lots of scene’s in the French Quarter. What got me in this film was that it was raining and everyone in the French Quarter had these pastel looking umbrellas. First of all there are enough balconies in the Quarter that people rarely carry an umbrella they just walk under the balconies and if its raining too hard they duck into a bar or a restaurant until the rain stops.