Boom Town

 

 

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "BOOM TOWN" (1940) - (119 min/B&W) -- Starring: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill & Chill Wills

Directed by Jack Conway

Clark Gable as "Big John" McMasters and Spencer Tracy is "Square John" Sand both seek their fortunes in the Texas oil fields. They simultaneously fall in love with Elizabeth, but it's "Big John" who wins out. When both Johns grow rich on oil, "Big John" lets money go to his head, and he begins neglecting his wife for the yummy Karen, the precocious companion of businessman Harry Compton. "Square John", who still carries a torch for Elizabeth but doesn't want to see her heart broken, tries to buy off Karen; when this fails, he decides to ruin "Big John" financially. But when "Big John" is charged with violating anti-trust rules by the crooked Compton, "Square John" rushes to the side of his old pal.

Oscar Nominated for Best Cinematography (black & white) & Best Special Effects.

Special footnote: -- 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 ~ Boom Town saw the re-teaming of Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable - back together on screen for the first time since the scintillating 'It Happened One Night' (1934) ~ This is the third (and last) pairing of those two "mega-stars": Clark Gable & Spencer Tracy. They were to appear together on two previous occasions - 'San Francisco' (1936) & 'Test Pilot' (1938).

BIOS:
1. Jack Conway (Director)
Date of Birth: 17 July 1887 - Graceville, Minnesota
Date of Death: 11 October 1952 - Pacific Palisades, California

2. Clark Gable
Date of birth: 1 February 1901 - Cadiz, Ohio,
Date of death: 16 November 1960 - Los Angeles, California

3. Spencer Tracy (aka: Spencer Bonaventure Tracy)
Date of birth: 5 April 1900 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
Date of death: 10 June 1967 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

4. Claudette Colbert [aka: Emilie Claudette Chauchoin]
Date of Birth: 13 September 1903 - Saint-Mandé, Seine [now Val-de-Marne], France
Date of Death: 30 July 1996 - Speightstown, Barbados

5. Hedy Lamarr [aka: Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler]
Date of Birth: 9 November 1914 - Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
Date of Death: 19 January 2000 - Orlando, Florida

6. Frank Morgan [aka: Francis Philip Wuppermann]
Date of Birth: 1 June 1890 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 18 September 1949 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

7. Lionel Atwill
Date of Birth: 1 March 1885 - Croydon, London, England
Date of Death: 22 April 1946 - Pacific Palisades, California

8. Chill Wills
Date of Birth: 18 July 1902 - Seagoville, Texas
Date of Death: 15 December 1978 - Encino, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 119 min on DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) ~ (June 20, 2006)

Boom Town is entertainment. This movie was made in 1940 and is based on a short story. It begins with a partnership/friendship between Gable & Tracey as Big John McMasters & John Sand. The underlying philosophy in the movie is meant to show that no matter how much money you have you were still happier when things were tough! Each man earns and loses about 2 to 3 fortunes apiece. I have lived long enough to have seen the complete movie before our modern day censors got to it, so I can tell you that you cannot get an uncut edition of this movie and this VHS is NO exception. They removed the Indian peace pipe smoking scene when McMasters(Gable) signs a land deal with Oklahoma indians.(pretending that people never smoked.) This subtle cutting is done to a lot of old films and is really silly.Also the "melting" scenes with the sad horn music when people lose all their money have been cut out also. The only one left in is when Compton United goes broke in the oil war with McMasters. Curiously we DO get to see the US Government prosecution of Oil barons and not necessarily in favorable light. This film also takes a shot at the IRS and complains about taxation! (Where are the censors for this stuff?) Anyway, Frank Morgan is great in this work as Luthur Aldridge and young Chill Wills is excellent as a deadly crack shot deputy who just wants to be a ranch cook. The Oil fire scenes received an Academy award for effects and it was top notch for 1940. Girls invade and cause a lot of trouble between McMasters and Sand and their ability to make money but everything comes clean and happy in the end. Well worth a view but please.... if the DVD ever comes out put ALL the film back together!

When I was on my Clark Gable kick some years back, I was overjoyed to find a copy of "Boom Town" in the video rental place. I'd seen a clip or two from it, and the prospect of seeing Gable, Tracy, and Colbert all together in one film was delightful to me. I mean, this would be the intersection of two great chemistry sets, Tracy and Gable of "San Francisco" with Gable and Colbert of "It Happened One Night". How could it possibly miss? Well, it did.

The buddy relationship of Gable and Tracy was great. The love triangle between Gable, Tracy, and Colbert was good. But why oh why do we have to go on a bit to have now married Gable cheat on wife Colbert with Hedy Lamarr? First off, I thought that was a terrible plot development, period. Why would he do that? Why was this necessary? No. Bad idea. What really sealed the fate of this being a wrong-o is the fact that Hedy is an awful actress. Yes, she's a beauty all right, but especially in the company of real fine competent acting talent, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

So, "Boom Town" was quite a disappointment for me, after years of expectation. Sometimes two plus two does not equal four, if your script is not good. Catch Gable-Tracy and Gable-Colbert in their separate better films.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting blend of soap opera and buddy flick
First, some movie trivia. Fans of WINGS OF DESIRE, the 1987 Wim Wenders film, should take note of the tailor that Clark Gable summons later in the film to make "twenty" suits for... Read more

Published on May 30 2002 by Robert Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Hollywood Movie Ever About the Oil Industry
This is without question the best Hollywood movie ever made about the oil industry. It truly captures the passion, excitement, adventure and pioneering spirit that has made... Read more

Published on Dec 18 2001 by Robert H. Chaney

5.0 out of 5 stars It is the closest real life movie of our early oil history
The movie has a great cast with some of the best actors that ever graced Hollywood. You have action from the very beginning that holds your attention throughout the whole movie... Read more

Published on April 7 1999

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