The boat will be placed on display at the Wetzel County Museum and will be part of the Stage-Struck memorabilia.

This year we will celebrate a time when Hollywood came to New Martinsville. A century ago in 1925, legendary Hollywood actress, Gloria Swanson traveled by train to New Martinsville to star in the movie, “Stage Struck.”

For the New Martinsville community the event was a chance to see one of the earliest movies filmed in color as the first and last parts of the movie were made in technicolor, an early way of presenting a more lifelike showing.

The film was set in a small river town where daydreaming waitress Jennie Hagen (Gloria) fantasizes about becoming a famous actress. She and her boyfriend cook Orme Wilson (Lawrence Gray), hope to own their own diner. Although Orme loves Jennie, he also had a weakness for stage stars, so when a riverboat theatrical crew came to their town, he fell for the lead actress Lillian Lyons (Gertrude Astor) causing a jealous Jennie to go onstage to try and best Lillian.

The Lincoln Theater in downtown New Martinsville was part of the movie’s set, along with the riverfront where the Showboat, Water Queen was tied off. Cast and crew during the filming were shuttled back and forth from the towns landing onto the Queen. A variety of row boats were used for that purpose.

After the movie wrapped, and Gloria returned to Hollywood, the only thing that remained were the row boats used in the movie. Time and history lost track of them for years. Then somewhere along the way, a notable local dentist, Joseph Ballouz, who was a bit of a collector came across one of the boats and purchased it. He then took the boat home and stored it away from the elements.

Some time back local residents Jane and Dwight Law purchased the Doctor Joseph Ballouz farm and made a discovery lost in history, a rowboat they believed was only used for the movie.

“Well, this barn was owned by Joe Ballouz who was my uncle. And he was a collector. Somehow when it was available downtown, he scarfed it up and brought it up here and stored it in the barn. So, it’s been protected all these years, “said Jane.

An inspection revealed the wooden boat’s bottom showed no evidence it had seen much duty in the rocky river bottom.

“There’s no rot, there’s no scrapes or anything so it may have been used an hour, two hours, a day, maybe. And then taken care of and when we came here, we discovered it, “ Dwight said.

Jane and Dwight realized their find should be part of the town’s history and put on display. They contacted Wetzel County Museum curator Dan Henthorn and made the arrangements.

Speaking about the boat, Henthorn said,” They would pick up cast and crew members for the movie and they would take them to the Water Queen which was the showboat that they used in the film.”

Last Monday morning Dan, Earl Yost, and Danny Westfall traveled to the location of the boat. With some ropes and strong backs, the old wooden boat began its journey from the forgotten barn loft, and reentered the sunlight for the first time anyone alive can remember.

The boat will be placed on display at the museum and will be part of the Stage-Struck memorabilia.

“And we’re gonna try to recreate the feeling that they had in 1925 when Governor Gore came to town, Gloria Swanson and her entourage, her husband. We’re gonna have people portray those people and we’re going to recreate the whole thing and have everybody come in and watch the film,” said Henthorn.

Dan wants to thank Jane and Dwight for their incredible donation back to the community to be a part of our preserved history.

“It will be exciting to be able to have this rare piece of history on display where people can touch and remember the time Hollywood came to our town.”

Henthorn said they will show the movie and hold the re-enactment on November 15, 2025, exactly 100 years after the original showing.