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:

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
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

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | 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: [walking up the saloon stairs to wash up] Hey, Whitey, I'll be back down like a spring breeze. Don't let those apes steal all your peaanuts.
Whitey: They say that with diamonds where I come from.
Big John McMasters: Yes, sir, Whitey, a brass band in a bathtub.
[she laughs]

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Polly Wolly Doodle

Moves Along At A Cracking Pace

This film has four big stars perfectly cast and appearing at their very best in a very entertaining film about "wild catting" in the American oil industry.I rated it 7/10.First up is Clark Gable playing the "mans man" role he made so famous in "Gone with the Wind".Next up is Spencer Tracy giving one of his speeches in court where he seems so comfortable, ("Judgment at Nuremburg", Cass Timberlayne" etc).Next up we have Claudette Colbert giving one of her best sympathetic "tea and sympathy" performances e.g. "Since You Went Away" and finally there is the gorgeous Hedy Lamarr playing to her strength of a sophisticated, intelligent and beautiful business associate who knows how the oil industry business is is transacted in the New York corridors of power.The film was made one year before the U.S. entered WWII so the budget could afford to be generous.Fot its day, the scenes and special effects of the oil well fire were very realistic.One reviewer remarked that Clark Gable in his youth worked on a "wild cat" oil site, if so this gave his performance added realism.What about those muddy roads.I felt like asking the town corporation to pave them over with some of that oil money flooding into the oil barons' coffers which presumably would attract some local taxation!