Crest Theatre
5425 Reisterstown Road,
Baltimore,
MD
21215
5425 Reisterstown Road,
Baltimore,
MD
21215
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: JF Theatres
Architects: Julius Myerburg
Functions: Office Space, Retail
Styles: Streamline Moderne
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News About This Theater
The Crest Theatre which opened on February 26, 1949 with Errol Flynn in “The New Adventures of Don Juan”. It was located in a shopping strip located at Reisterstown Road and Northern Parkway in northwest Baltimore. All seating was located on a single floor. Its wide screen was the largest one of all the northwest neighborhoods including the Uptown Theatre. It was the theatre where the roadshow movies were shown during their neighborhood runs. These, of course, were the 35mm versions without intermission, etc. However, the large screen more than compensated.
I remember as a kid seeing “West Side Story” there. Later, “El Cid” was also presented there. I also remember seeing “A Shot In The Dark” there.
This theatre doesn’t get much a mention when theatres in northwest Baltimore are discussed. There is no mention of it in a site dedicated to local Baltimore theatres. Nor does anyone remember it here.
The theatre was part of the quartet of theatres along the Reisterstown Rd. - Park Heights corridor. These included the smaller Avalon Theatre, the Uptown Theatre and - although located in suburban Pikesville - the Pikes Theatre.
As a teenager, I remember a couple friends of mine who boasted they saw two great movies - one they saw at the Uptown Theatre, then took the bus up to see the movie at the Crest Theatre. This was during the James Bond craze where every movie studio was producing their own versions. The one at the Crest Theatre was called “Our Man Flint” starring James Coburn. I believe back then there was greater diversity in films than there are now at the multiplexes but that’s another story.
After JF closed the Crest Theatre it was reopened by an independent entrepeneur as a dollar house. It did not remain open very long, closing in 1976. Additionally, during the years I lived in the neighborhood, local chain JF owned the Crest Theatre, the Uptown Theatre and the Pikes Theatre. JF and another local chain, Durkee, owned the majority of the major neighborhood houses. Although Trans-Lux owned a portion of the downtown houses for a while (the Little, Town and Hippodrome) JF retained complete ownership of all the downtown theatres.
An interesting aside is that the Trans-Lux theatres in spite of their sizes had an intimate feel to them while the JF theatres had the feel of a big house.
Contributed by
Michael Levin
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
The Crest had two incarnations as a bargain house: first around 1976-77, then from 1981 to about 1983 or 1984. The 1980s run was under the so-called “Smart Bros.” chain, and had such a poor reputation for rowdy audiences, that it was known in its last days as the “New Family Crest.”
Construction in progress at the Crest: about a month ago I rode by there, and there was a huge hole in the southeast wall (to the right of where the screen was). Obviously the tabernacle is closed; the pawn shop and carry-out in the former lobby are still open.
Here is a 1987 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ylb3wlu
Update: The auditorium has been completely gutted. Iron beamwork has been built inside the auditorium, extending to the land outside of it.
The businesses in the former lobby are still open.
Much of the auditorium area is now occupied by offices of the Maryland Motor Vehicles Administration (MVA). Small shops have been added to the area outside the southeast wall.
I grew up on Tippett Ave. one block away from the theater. I spent many a Saturday mourning mowing lawns or shoveling snow to spend the afternoon at the Crest watching a Cowboy or Horror movie. One of my fondness memories is seeing the Wizard of Oz three times in a row and not being able to sleep that night because I knew a Witch was lurking in every dark shadow. We moved away from there in 1963 but I will always remember the 25 cent admission ticket and the 10 cent popcorn that consumed a lot of my Saturday afternoons.The Crest may be gone but it will remain a part of my child hood memories.
The Crest wasn’t the best in the area but I liked it . One thing no one commented on was that Muriel on the back wall where the projector window was . It had Disney characters painted on it with Mickey , Goofy and others . At this theater I saw my first …. James Bond Film Thunderball at 8 years old , the Crest was the only theater in the area that shown 007 films . strange huh ?
Jammer, in Philadelphia United Artists releases, including the Bond films, always seemed to show up at the Sameric theaters. Perhaps the chain that owned this theater had a similarly tight relationship with UA.
RickB, when I lived in Philly in the 1950’s, the Benner on Castor Avenue was my local theater.
Opened on February 26th, 1949, and its Sun listings stopped in 1976. Grand opening ad posted. Had an 2nd theatre with a large TV screen.