Boom Town (1940)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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:

Oil | Wildcatter | Oil Field | Oil Tycoon | Partnership

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:

Big John McMasters: I'm not blaming you, maybe. But you aren't walking out with him or anybody else, understand?
Elizabeth Bartlett McMasters: Him? What are you...?
Big John McMasters: Sand. He told me all about it. I had to give him a licking to show him that's out. You're my girl, see? And you always will be. Even if I have to lick you to prove it.
Elizabeth Bartlett McMasters: I'm your girl. You can lick me if it'll help.
Big John McMasters: Well, I'll save it for when you need it.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

After You've Gone

Great Stars in Entertaining Saga

Portraying a friendship similar to the one they shared in the earlier "San Francisco," Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy play two oilmen or wildcatters in "Boom Town," an entertaining saga directed by Jack Conway. Gable is the colorful Big John McMasters, a Rhett Butler from Texas, who lives large and romances big. Tracy is the more solid, down-to-earth Jonathan Sand, who is Gable's moral conscience, much like he was in "San Francisco." The pair meet cute while heading in opposite directions on a narrow board walkway across a muddy street. Despite a damp start, the two men bond, and their friendship endures for years through fights, jealousy, and competition over business and women, particularly Claudette Colbert. The mud is barely washed off their clothing when Gable unwittingly steals Colbert from Tracy, and the jilted platonic lover carries a torch for his lost love throughout the film. When not womanizing or swindling, Gable and Tracy make and lose several fortunes separately and together without breaking a sweat. Oil gushers, well fires, and fistfights, the action wanders all over the MGM back lot from Texas to South America to New York.

Gable anchors the film with his larger-than-life personality, while Tracy underplays in deference to his more charismatic co-star. Although re-teaming the Oscar-winning leads of "It Happened One Night" must have seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, Colbert, unfortunately, often seems out of place in "Boom Town." Her manners, poise, and dress do not mesh with the Texas oil fields or the South American hovels. She is on firmer ground as the well-dressed lady of the manor. The sight of perfectly made-up Colbert scrubbing clothes on a washboard with a big grin on her face strains the story's credibility. Although the enigmatic Hedy Lamarr has a flawless face and incomparable beauty, she rarely wrinkles her professionally applied cosmetics to show any trace of an emotion. However, she is certainly believable as the object of any man's lust and physically perfect as an "other woman." Fortunately, a fine cast of supporting players, such as Frank Morgan, Chill Wills, and Lionel Atwill, surround the leading stars and further enhance the lively proceedings.

First class production values, a fast-moving story, and appealing stars make "Boom Town" a solid entertainment, if not a masterpiece.