Foss Launch & Tug Company (Foss) purchased "Wallowa" in late 1929, and the vessel became among the first of that company's large, seagoing acquisitions. To help pay off the large purchase, Foss donated a previously agreed-upon amount of towing services to Merrill & Ring, then in 1931 leased "Wallowa" to MGM Studios for filming the 1933 blockbuster hit "Tugboat Annie". That film, the first major motion picture filmed in Washington state, became a huge success and made "Wallowa" (unofficially renamed "Narcissus" during filming) a movie star.