Boom Town (1940)

Director:

Jack Conway

Writers:

James Edward Grant (story)
John Lee Mahin (writer)

Release Date:

30 August 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Where Men Are Rough And Tough . . . And Like Their Women The Same Way !

Plot:

Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a twenty year period both love the same woman.

Plot Keywords:

Conservation | Oil Field Fire | Oil Rig | Native American | Barroom Brawl

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Big John McMasters
Spencer Tracy	...	Jonathan Sand
Claudette Colbert	...	Elizabeth Bartlett McMasters
Hedy Lamarr	...	Karen Vanmeer
Frank Morgan	...	Luther Aldrich
Lionel Atwill	...	Mr. Harry Compton
Chill Wills	...	Deputy Harmony Jones
Marion Martin	...	Whitey
Minna Gombell	...	Spanish Eva 'Evie'
Joe Yule	...	Ed Murphy
Horace Murphy	...	Tom Murphy
Roy Gordon	...	Mr. 'Mac' McCreery
Richard Lane	...	Assistant District Attorney
Casey Johnson	...	Little Jack McMasters
Baby Quintanilla	...	Baby Jack McMasters
George Lessey	...	Judge
Sara Haden	...	Miss Barnes (McMasters' secretary)
Frank Orth	...	Barber
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Deacon
Curt Bois	...	Ferdie (the tailor)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barbara Bedford	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Hank (man in dance hall) (uncredited)
Charles D. Brown	...	U.S. Marshal Stebbins (uncredited)
Ralph Bushman	...	Man with nitroglycerine (uncredited)
Marietta Canty	...	Karen's Maid (uncredited)
Charles Coleman	...	Parker (McMasters' butler) (uncredited)
Nell Craig	...	Compton's secretary (uncredited)
Dick Curtis	...	Hiring boss (uncredited)
Eddie Dunn	...	Wildcatter (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Man at dice table (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Worker in McMasters' office (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Geologist (uncredited)
Sam Garrett	...	Rider / Roper (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Baggage man (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Man abandoned by Whitey (uncredited)
William Halligan	...	McCreery's associate #2 (uncredited)
John Hamilton	...	McMasters' Defense Attorney (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Smith (the architect) (uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Howard C. Hickman	...	McCreery's associate #1 (uncredited)
Earle Hodgins	...	Rodeo barker (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Saloon brawler (uncredited)
Jack Ingram	...	Oilman at producers' convention (uncredited)
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Oilman in New York (uncredited)
Mitchell Lewis	...	Venezuelan foreman (uncredited)
Tom London	...	Sheriff (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	Oil Man (uncredited)
John T. Murray	...	Mr. Springtime (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell	...	Oilman at producers' convention (uncredited)
Garry Owen	...	Man with piece of ground (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	Venezuelan officer (uncredited)
Milton Parsons	...	Aldrich's assistant (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	Mr. Summers (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Lawyer at Prosecution'sTable (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Hotel Lobby Extra (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Hotel desk clerk #1 (uncredited)
Eddy Waller	...	Train Station Master (uncredited)
Douglas Wood	...	Oil Man at New York Meeting (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Conway

Writing credits
James Edward Grant		(story "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett")
John Lee Mahin		(writer)

Produced by
Sam Zimbalist	....	producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson		(director of photography)
Elwood Bredell		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Blanche Sewell
Paul Landres		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis
Henry Grace		(uncredited)
Hugh Hunt		(uncredited)
Jack D. Moore		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Horace Hough	....	assistant director (uncredited)
John Waters	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Eddie Imazu	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects (as Arnold Gillespie)
John Hoffman	....	montage effects

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
George DeNormand	....	fight double: Spencer Tracy (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Hickey	....	fight double: Clark Gable (uncredited)
Herbert Holcombe	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Samuel Cohen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ray Ramsey	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gile Steele	....	wardrobe: men

Other crew
Ford Alexander	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Boom Town! (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6351)

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Rita Hayworth did a screen test for the role of Karen Vanmeer.

Quotes:

Man abandoned by Whitey: [Whitey rises from table to follow Clark Gable; man she was with tries to restrain her] Hey, wait a minute! Where're ya goin'?
Whitey: Let go of me! I pick my own posies, jughead!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele Sweet on You (#2.15)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

After You've Gone

Gable's most personal role

When one thinks of roles identified with Clark Gable, Boom Town does not immediately come to mind. Yet this film, done at what most would consider the high water mark of Gable's career (after Gone With the Wind and before Carole Lombard's death) was possibly his most personal role. Before he was actor Gable worked in the oil fields with his widowed father. After that he decided acting was a far easier way to make a living. But he actually lived the life that he and Spencer Tracy portrayed in Boom Town. He brings more to the part of Big John McMasters than any other part he ever did. I'm sure he was an unofficial technical consultant on the film.

The film is also an ode to laissez faire capitalism, maybe one of the most right wing films ever done in Hollywood. You will never hear Herbert Hoover's rugged individualism better justified than in Spencer Tracy's speech to the jury in Gable's anti-trust trial. One half of the script writing team was James Edward Grant who later did many of the more propagandistic films that John Wayne did.

Frank Morgan is his usual befuddled self, he had a patent on those parts. Claudette Colbert is fine as the woman both men love and Hedy Lamarr was her usual alluring self.

Great entertainment all around.