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IMDbPro

Boom Town

  • 1940
  • Passed
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.6K
YOUR RATING
Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, and Hedy Lamarr in Boom Town (1940)
Trailer for this black and white classic
Play trailer2:31
1 Video
45 Photos
DramaRomanceWestern

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

  • Director
    • Jack Conway
  • Writers
    • John Lee Mahin
    • James Edward Grant
  • Stars
    • Clark Gable
    • Spencer Tracy
    • Claudette Colbert
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    3.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jack Conway
    • Writers
      • John Lee Mahin
      • James Edward Grant
    • Stars
      • Clark Gable
      • Spencer Tracy
      • Claudette Colbert
    • 46User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Boom Town
    Trailer 2:31
    Watch Boom Town

    Photos45

    Clark Gable in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and Casey Johnson in Boom Town (1940)
    "Boom Town" Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable 1940 MGM
    "Boom Town" Frank Morgan, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Spencer Tracy on the set 1940 MGM
    Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy at an event for Boom Town (1940)
    Lobby Card, 14" x 11"
    Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, and Hedy Lamarr in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Curt Bois in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable and Chill Wills in Boom Town (1940)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, and Frank Morgan in Boom Town (1940)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Clark Gable
    Clark Gable
    • Big John McMasters
    Spencer Tracy
    Spencer Tracy
    • Square John Sand
    Claudette Colbert
    Claudette Colbert
    • Betsy Bartlett
    Hedy Lamarr
    Hedy Lamarr
    • Karen Vanmeer
    Frank Morgan
    Frank Morgan
    • Luther Aldrich
    Lionel Atwill
    Lionel Atwill
    • Harry Compton
    Chill Wills
    Chill Wills
    • Harmony Jones
    Marion Martin
    Marion Martin
    • Whitey
    Minna Gombell
    Minna Gombell
    • Spanish Eva
    Joe Yule
    Joe Yule
    • Ed Murphy
    Horace Murphy
    Horace Murphy
    • Tom Murphy
    Roy Gordon
    Roy Gordon
    • McCreery
    Richard Lane
    Richard Lane
    • Ass't. District Attorney
    Casey Johnson
    • Little Jack
    Baby Quintanilla
    • Baby Jack
    George Lessey
    George Lessey
    • Judge
    Sara Haden
    Sara Haden
    • Miss Barnes
    Frank Orth
    Frank Orth
    • Barber
    • Director
      • Jack Conway
    • Writers
      • John Lee Mahin
      • James Edward Grant
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Clark Gable was anxious to do the film because his father had been an oil rigger, and Gable himself had worked on oil rigs in Oklahoma before becoming an actor.
    • Goofs
      When Clark Gable rides the donkey at the rodeo he is holding a balloon. In the first wide shot the balloon is gone, but it reappears in the next close up.
    • 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.

    • Crazy credits
      [Opening title] This is the story of a hard driving breed of Americans - oil prospectors - "wildcatters". Made of the bone and blood of pioneers - men born of the lasting miracle that is America - they probed the Earth from early Pennsylvania to California's Kettleman Hills to bring forth America's greatest treasure, the life blood of today's world - oil!
    • Alternate versions
      Also available in a computer colorized version.
    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood: Style Center of the World (1940)
    • Soundtracks
      Polly Wolly Doodle
      (uncredited)

      Composer unknown

      Played over the opening credits and as background

      Sung and hummed at various times by Clark Gable, Chill Wills and Claudette Colbert

    User reviews46

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    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.
    helpful•16
    1
    • dglink
    • Jun 13, 2007

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 30, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Petrolej
    • Filming locations
      • Bakersfield, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $1,614,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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