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Boom Town
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Boom Town (1940)

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User Rating: 7.1/10 (687 votes)
Photos (see all 9 | slideshow)

Overview

Director:
Jack Conway
Writers:
James Edward Grant (story)
John Lee Mahin (writer)
Release Date:
30 August 1940 (USA) more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. more
User Comments:
Gable's most personal role more

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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)
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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)
 
Crew verified as complete



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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Boom Town! (USA) (alternative spelling)
more
Runtime:
119 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6351)
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Rita Hayworth did a screen test for the role of Karen Vanmeer. more
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!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele Sweet on You (#2.15)" (1984) more
Soundtrack:
After You've Gone more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
19 out of 20 people found the following comment useful:-
Gable's most personal role, 9 January 2004
9/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

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.

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