Isis Theatre
617 Second Street,
Webster City,
IA
50595
617 Second Street,
Webster City,
IA
50595
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pioneer Theater Corp.
Functions: Restaurant, Retail
Previous Names: Family Theatre, I-sis Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Family Theatre opened around 1907. By 1909 it was screening movies. It showed second run films until the building was damaged by fire in January 1927. The theatre was refurbished, reopening on June 11, 1927 and continued operation under different ownership into the late-1940’s. The last organization to run the theatre was the Pioneer Theater Corp. chain, which owned 19 theatres in the area around that era. The Isis Theatre was closed in 1954.
In 2018 the front of the building is in use as a hearing aid center, while the auditorium is used as an extension for the restaurant next door.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Here is a link:
http://showcase.netins.net/web/marjned/isis.html
On September 20, 1920, the Isis was showing “Food for Scandal” with Wanda Hawley and Harrison Ford (that’s what it says). Wanda received top billing, of course, which most likely left Harrison pretty ticked.
The IMDB says that Wanda Hawley later became a call girl in San Francisco. Sic transit gloria mundi.
A new organ was installed in the Isis Theatre in 1917, as noted in this item from the March 3 issue of The Moving Picture World:
Schuneman was manager of the Isis at least as early as 1914, when he and the theater were mentioned in the February 10 issue of the Webster City Freeman:Schuneman’s career as manager of the Isis lasted at least into 1929, when he was named in an item in the April 13 issue of Motion Picture News listing movie houses that had recently installed sound equipment. The installation at the Isis was a sound-on-disc system.This article from the January 19, 2016, issue of Webster City’s paper, The Daily Freeman-Journal has a fairly detailed history of the Isis Theatre. A. C. Schuneman bought a half interest in the Isis in 1912, and eventually became sole owner. He sold the house to Finklestein Theatres in early 1931.
Although the theater was dismantled in 1954, the building is still standing, the front portion housing a hearing aid center and the rear occupied by seating for the restaurant next door, the Second Street Emporium. The 1990 restaurant expansion included a small banquet facility called The Isis Room, which displays photos of the theater.
The reopening of the rebuilt Isis following the January, 1927, fire was on June 11, 1927.
According to the Webster’s site, which has excellent capsule histories of all live and movie theaters which operated in Webster City, this was originally the Family Theatre. It seems to have operated from about 1907 until 1910. It may originally have been vaudeville only, but by 1909, they were showing movies.
The building was constructed between 1900 and 1907, and is a bakery on the 1907 map. I’m not sure how serious the fire was. The building is the same height on all the maps, but the facade does look like it might be later.
Overcorrection on this entry. The opening date in 1911 for the Isis was correct. There were two separate operations. Right now this incorrectly indicates that it was the Family up until 1927.