Bentley Theatre

Neon, KY 41840

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Neon Theatre

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Bentley Theatre

This was the first movie theatre to open in Neon. It had opened as the Neon Theatre by 1925 and had closed by 1927. In 1937 a new Neon Theatre had opened (or was it the earlier building? By 1938 it was operating as the 300-seat Bentley Theatre. By 1943 the seating capacity had increased to 350-seats. It was destroyed by fire on February 29, 1944.

A new Neon Theatre was built to replace it, but that too was destroyed by fire in 1947 which wiped out the whole block.

By 1950 a 325-seat Bentley Theatre was operating which and still operated with that name until at least 1957. It was later renamed Neon Theatre and has its own page on Cinema Treasures.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

robboehm
robboehm on August 2, 2022 at 2:54 pm

Uploaded a photo of the Bentley (not sure which one), a 1938 ad from The Mountain Eagle and the February 1947 announcement of the fire which wiped out the, then, Neon, and the entire block from The Mountain Eagle.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on August 4, 2022 at 6:48 pm

On February 29, 1944, both the Bentley Theatre and the hotel next to it were destroyed by a fire, and the fire also killed a man as well. Coroner Archie Craft later identified the only death as 24-year-old Wardell Robbins of Neon.

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