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Photo 5, Main Street scene c. 1919, Louisville Historical Museum E-C N-12 Photo 5 shows the Rex Theatre on the left. This photo shows a poster that is also shown in Photo 4, and so is also believed to have been taken in around 1919. From 1920 to 1927, the building was owned by James Carper, who is also listed in directories for that period as the manager of the Rex. According to an account printed in the August 1994 issue of the Louisville Historian and entitled "Movie Theaters in Our Town," live piano music for silent movies was performed in the theater in the 1920s, some of it performed by Mary Ferrari Franchini. Ownership by Santino Biella and Continued Operation of Rex Theatre, 1927-1945 In 1927, Santino Biella purchased this property and continued the operation of the Rex Theatre with his wife, Mary Zarini Biella. They owned and operated it until 1945. Santino Biella was born in Italy in c. 1885. He was a coal miner prior to owning the Rex Theatre. He passed away in 1957. Mary Zarini Biella was born in Louisville in 1894 of Italian parents and died in 1966. The couple lived with their children in the 800 block of La Farge Avenue, almost directly west of the theater that they operated. (This was also the block where Mary had grown up.) Santino, or Sandy, ran the business side and Mary sold tickets. According to the 1994 Louisville Historian article, which was assembled and edited by Sandy and Mary Biella's niece, Eileen Schmidt, "Shortly after Sandy and Mary Biella became owners of the Rex, the movie industry was booming and the Rex became a first -run facility. This meant that the moves were shown in Louisville at the same time they were being viewed in Denver and other larger cities. This was very important because people didn't have the means