The Columbia Theatre stood at the corner of Canal Street and Burgundy Street and was located inside the Audubon Building. It opened in 1910 and was a popular venue for movies and live events throughout the 1910s and into the 1920s. The location is now the site of The Saint Hotel French Quarter, a (boutique) Autograph Collection Hotel run by Marriott.
This photo measures about 8.5 inches tall by about 10 inches wide. It is oriented horizontally. It appears to be sepia in tone. The photo shows the lobby of the theatre and was probably taken from just inside the front door. The ticket booth (with the sign "Admission 10 c, Children 5 c") is in the middle. To one side of the booth is a man dressed in a white suit, who is identified (by name) on the back of the photo. There, the following is written, in pencil: "Ernst Boehringer, Columbia Theatre, N.O. La".
Above the ticket book and the two sets of double doors is an impressive display of three taxidermy stag (deer) heads, each of which appear to have at least 8 points. Also against the back wall are two dioramas each showing a doe surrounded by foliage. They have a three dimensional appearance. I can't tell for sure but it is possible that the two does are complete taxidermy specimens.
In the foreground (left side) are two rows of movie posters. (They appear to be larger than the typical "lobby card".) The names on the two front posters are legible. One is for Neal of the Navy starring Lillian Lorraine and the other is for A Woman starring Charlie Chaplin. Each of these silent movies was released in 1915, which I feel accurately dates this photo. On the opposite side in the foreground is another poster with Lillian Lorraine. The photo also features an impressive tile floor, with the lettering "COLUMBIA", a potted palm, and two potted ornamental trees.
Lillian Lorraine was discovered in 1907 by Flo Ziegfeld and was - during the 1910s - the most famous of the Ziegfeld Girls. In fact, the two had a torrid affair that led to the dissolution of the impresario's first marriage. Lorraine is credited with being the first to perform the song By the Light of the Silvery Moon.
The film A Woman was controversial. At one point in the movie, Charlie Chaplin dons lady's clothing and shaves his mustache to disguise himself as a woman. The film was banned by British censors. Chaplin never again played a woman in a movie.
According to historic articles in the New Orleans Times Picayune, Ernst Boehringer (the man in the photo) was an important movie exhibitor in the South, not just in New Orleans. A long article dated July 2, 1918 states that he started as a showman in 1896 and had been a motion picture exhibitor since 1906. His first venture was in Marshall, Texas; subsequently, he opened theaters in Monroe and Baton Rouge, before coming to New Orleans, Louisiana. The article describes Boehringer as not the first but "nevertheless the dean of all present day exhibitors in the South...". He had traveled to Europe and also to Central and South America, taking note of architectural features of "various elegant theatres" in these locations. Of note, the article describes Boehringer as an "ardent sportsman" who had a reputation as an excellent cook of game meat. (This might well explain the specimens mounted in the lobby of the Columbia Theatre!) Perhaps his greatest achievement was the construction of the lavish Liberty Theatre which was located at 420 St. Charles Ave and had a capacity of over 1,200.