The Theaters of Goetz: 1923 The "Rex" in Beloit, WI

Exhibitor’s Herald Oct 23rd, 1923

The first reference to the Goetz brothers operating the “Rex” theater in Beloit is in the October 23rd 1923 edition of Exhibitor’s Herald. Chester Goetz participated in a “What the Picture did for Me” feature, where he reviewed a First National Film.

The tiny review of film “Within The Law” states: “Within the Law, with Norma Talmadge— A world pleaser. Stand advance prices where film rentals are high. — C. Goetz, Rex theater, Beloit, Wis. — General patronage.”

What Chester is referring to here is financial practice by theater operators: men like Goetz would rent the physical reel from the film’s owner in the territory where the theater was located, the ‘States’ Rights’ system. Rights to the film weren’t based on state boundaries, but swaths of territory that included parts of states or multiple states. Wisconsin was usually divided in half when State’s Rights to a film were sold, the top (Milwaukee) half going to powerful film interests in Minnesota, while the bottom half went to Chicagoland and sometimes parts of Michigan or Iowa.

Lobby card advertising material for “Within the Law” supplied by First National Pictures.

Norma Talmadge was the actress featured in a Neysa McMein portrait that I used for my January 17th post; McMein was one of the judges for the National Salesgirls’ Beauty Contest. Many of McMein’s paintings feature the soft-focus, stylized beauty so popular during the 1910s and 20s. McMein did a number of covers for Photoplay magazine (which often featured Flo Ziegfeld and the work of Alfred Cheney Johnston) and Good Housekeeping, which was edited by William Wesley Young.

Chester Goetz participated in no less then seven reviews in the Oct. 23rd Exhibitor’s Herald: five for Paramount films, one for a First National and one for a Selznick film. For the Paramount and Selznick reviews he describes himself as “of the Beverly”, which is a theater in Janesville, WI that the brothers took over in 1920. Why he changed affiliation half way through the feature is a mystery, but it could be that the brothers considered the 800-seater in Janesville their flagship premises and wanted to be associated with it.

According to the website of Paul Schilling, the Rex was renamed “Ellis” around 1956— you can find another picture of the Rex on Schilling’s site too. Unfortunately the Ellis, like the Beverly, was bulldozed in the 1970s so nothing but a parking lot remains today. The site of the original Rex theater is located at 630 Fourth Street, Beloit WI.

The Rex Theater in Beloit. Thanks to cinematreatsures.org and Bryan Krefft and Ryan Warde