Westview 10 Cinemas
6023-6026 Baltimore National Pike,
Baltimore,
MD
21228
6023-6026 Baltimore National Pike,
Baltimore,
MD
21228
3 people
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The Westview Cinemas became national headlines on March 4, 1989 following the murder of its theater manager, 69-year-old former retired brick salesman Walter Albert Robinson, and as of today, the killer is still nowhere to be found. I think it’s best to include information about the murder.
Shortly after midnight on Robinson’s 69th birthday, March 4, 1989, Robinson was still wearing his work tuxedo and had gone to the ushers' room to change clothes before leaving for the night, before he was fatally stabbed by a man who also stole an unknown amount of cash. Robinson’s body was found by a fellow employee with a large stab wound to the chest. A kitchen knife with a 6-inch blade was found next to him. According to a police spokesman, he replied that he was last seen alive before midnight, still having his wallet and had not been robbed, but the receipts are reported missing from the manager’s office. Several employees were questioned, including co-manager Bob Sutherland, who discovered Robinson’s dead body, but they were not able to provide any leads.
Opened with Jack Lemmon in “How To Murder Your Wife”.
Six screens on June 12th, 1981. Another grand opening ad in the photo section.
December 10th, 1972 grand opening as a 4-plex in the photo section. It opened on the 14th.
The November 17th, 1968 grand opening ad as a twin can be found in the photo section.
Saw Star Wars here at age 8 and The Black Hole a couple of years later. Truly two of the most memorable experiences of my life. The screens were so huge and the lobby was gorgeous. I’ll never forget standing in line for Star Wars and an usher opened the door to the theater for a moment to check something and I caught a glimpse of TIE fighters zooming down the trench of the Death Star. I almost threw up I was so excited. I really hope there’s a movie theater this memorable for my kids to go to when they’re old enough, it just isn’t the same anymore.
For anybody nostalgic or curious, the Westview can be seen on film in a scene from Barry Levinson’s TIN MEN (1987).
It comes at about the thirty-five minute mark, where the characters played by Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito exit the nightclub to take their fight outside. That exterior is the Westview, anyone who ever visited will recognize it instantly. You see them walk out the front door, under the overhang, past the addition (made up as a coffee shop) and into the parking lot. Once there you can see the Edmundson’s Drive-In screen in the background, playing a Western.
At least it was preserved in this small way!
Beautiful theatre, the first one I ever fell in love with. Saw hundreds and hundred of movies there from 1977 to 1997, from the ages of seven to twenty-seven.
There were amazing chandeliers in the lobby, and the faux Deco style really made it feel timeless.
The Edmondsun Drive-In was next to the Westview, at the bottom of a hill. The drive-in opened in 1954 and closed before the hardtop cinema, becoming a Home Depot after it closed in 1991. The beautiful Westview was completely demolished, and a Circuit City erected in it’s spot.
Truly the end of an era.