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21 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Gable's most personal role, 9 January 2004

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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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Moves Along At A Cracking Pace, 3 April 2006

Author: (howardmorley@aol.com) from United Kingdom

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!

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Realism in 'Boom Town', 26 January 2006

Author: twodox (mecobern@cox.net) from Connecticut, USA

As one who has worked in the "oil patch" for 25 years, I feel that 'Boom Town' is the most realistic portrait of the industry (during that period) that has ever been put on film. The formation of the cartel mimics the origins of Standard Oil. Also, the 'feel' of the picture is right and the industry is not romanticized as in other films. Perhaps, as was noted in other comments, this is because of Gable's experience as a wildcatter.

Several others have noted, or objected to, Gable's speech about the nature of the industry. Yes, it is decidedly pro-business and anti-government, but it is not really laissez faire. The film argues for controlled production of oil fields to maximize their long-term benefit. This speech is amazingly prescient of our current crisis.

I watch this one every time it airs.

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Who's oil is it, anyway?, 4 October 2002

Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

Tracy and Gable play two "wildcatters" -- oil hunters -- who are always at loggerheads and both manage to gain and lose several fortunes before the film's end. Colbert is the woman they both love; Lamarr is of course the "other" woman in husband Gable's life. A lot of fun scenes (especially when the 2 bullheaded oil barons finally duke it out), good characterizations (Morgan, as always, deserves a mention, this time as the slightly petty equipment broker they both rely on), but a somewhat predictable story, though well scripted. Ultra-conservative Mahin has spiced Tracy's rousing final speech (yes, he ALWAYS gets one) with the pro-business slant so favored by himself and exec-producer Mayer, managing to make this into sort of an anti-Capra comedy.

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11 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A great movie, 12 July 1999

Author: Elizabeth (endofroad2@aol.com) from NY

I love this movie! It's such a touching movie about romance, friendship, and oil...is that touching? Anyway, if I were Claudette Colbert, I would have a hard time deciding between Clark Gable (handsome and rugged) and Spencer Tracy (sweet, caring, and devoted). If you've never seen "Boom Town", you really have to! It's great.

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Moves Like a Tornado, 7 May 2002

Author: telegonus from brighton, ma

This movie doesn't let up, as it journeys from Texas oil fields to Latin America to New York City to Oklahoma. Its characters go from rich to poor in what seems like a blink of the eye. As the main characters, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy are in top form, and still young enough looking in 1940 to play oil wildcatters. The ladies, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr, play more complex than usual women for this kind of film, as their motivations at all times make sense even if one doesn't care for them.

Boom Town isn't an easy movie to categorize. I guess you'd call it an adventure, though it has a good deal of drama, some of it serious, and the actors bring a rare sincerity to their roles. Gable is livelier and seems happier here than I've ever seen him. Tracy, never a cheerful sort, is as near to a happy camper as he can be.

Jack Conway wasn't usually regarded as a director of the first rank even by his studio, does a fine job of keeping things moving at a swift pace. Yet he knows how to slow things down, too, so that one can catch a real glimpse of a small western city or an oil field. The script, by John Lee Mahin and James Edward Grant, does not for a minute seriously question the motivations or morals of the main characters, and this could be classified as a conservative adventure film or a Republican epic. Whatever. It's well enough done to satisfy even the most persnickety liberal.

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10 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Would Have Preferrred Grubby Over Soapy, 15 July 2007

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

There was something lacking in this film, not that I didn't like it: it just wasn't as good as it should have been. There was an intensity missing. I found it tough to get involved with the story and the characters.

The cast was terrific: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, Chill Wills - are you kidding me? That's an incredible cast.

Gable had the lead as the cocky oil wildcatter "John McMasters" and Tracy has his more controlled friend "John Sand." The latter is more than leery of his buddy which turns out to be prophetic as McMasters marries the woman Sands had his eyes on: "Elizabeth Bartlett," called "Besty" in the film and played by Colbert. However, he accepts it in a mature manner.

This romance angle comes and goes just like the oil fortunes of these two men. One day they're up; the next day, they're broke. Lamar enters the picture to give it another melodrama twist. That's probably why I was bit letdown in the end. The romances took over from the rousing man's adventure story I thought it was going to be, and looked like it was going to be in the first part of the story. However, I guess they figured women might not come to the theater if there were no complicated romance issues among the tales of two man grubby oilmen. I would have preferred the grubbiness, as this turned out to be a little too long and boring, despite those dynamic lead actors.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The allstar epic before there were all star epics, 2 July 2001
Author: saduran from Los Angeles

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Boomtown, 4 of the biggest stars at MGM in one film. Not since the Grand Hotel and Dinner At Eight era had MGM thrown top 4 stars in one films and man oh man is it worth it. The film was made over 60 years ago and I rewatched it last night for 1 umpteenth time and it still holds up. Sure the special effects are dated but i'd rather have this story and those acotrs than all the stars in an Irwin Allen production. Think Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis teamed with Julia Roberts and Sharon Stone tht would be todays equals you're already looking at 60-80 million dollar budget.

Enough of that Gable, Tracy, Colbert, and Lamarr are all wonderful in the film. The story pretty simple... big john (gable) and square john (tracy) go wild catting together. Tracy has a girl back home and gtable thinks he's a chump because of it. Just before they strike it rich, big john meets a lady (colbert) as she arrives into town. they spend the day together. Big john marries the lasy, but wait she forgets to mention she's the girl square john has been writing. Square john takes it like a man and for a while things go well. Diaster strikes Gable loses his shares to tracy and he and colbert go off to make a new fortune. Tracy loses it all rebuilds...Gavle finally strikes it rich again and moves into New York to compete with the big boys. He's aided by seductress Karen(lamarr) who loves big johhn. big john and karen do the hokey pokie, betsy attempts to kill herself, square john vows to bring big john to his knees. he does. big john and betsy go out west to wildcat and are joined by square john happy ending.

Although this all sounds contrived...it works...the film is fast paced each actor givesa solid performance. Gable and Tracy are all manly men and Colbert and Lamarr are stunning as the women who love them. If you don't mind no sex in your movies this is a must have film. an easy way to spend a couple of hours.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Hedy, The Siren, 26 August 2001
Author: (t009@aol.com) from United States

This movie started off kind of slow for me, until Hedy Lamarr made her entrance..What a babe, and what a performance. I think she had the better part of the females. Claudette was fine, but her role was boring. Hedy played her part like a real business woman would and of course, who in their right mind could resist her.

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9 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Hedy, The Siren, 26 August 2001
Author: (t009@aol.com) from United States

This movie started off kind of slow for me, until Hedy Lamarr made her entrance..What a babe, and what a performance. I think she had the better part of the females. Claudette was fine, but her role was boring. Hedy played her part like a real business woman would and of course, who in their right mind could resist her.

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