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Boom Town Overview:

Boom Town (1940) was a Drama - Adventure Film directed by Jack Conway and produced by Sam Zimbalist.

SYNOPSIS

Two rough-and-tumble wildcatters strike it rich in the dusty oil fields of Oklahoma. Worthwhile to watch Gable and Tracy mix it up.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1940 --- Ceremony Number 13 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyHarold RossonNominated
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Boom Town BlogHub Articles:

Doctor Who (2005) s01e11 – Boom Town

on Jun 5, 2020 From The Stop Button

This episode is easily writer Russell T. Davies’s best so far. Maybe it helps he’s got Joe Ahearne directing, who’s even able to weather the Noel Clarke storm. Though it’s a new Noel Clarke. A moody one who’s not hanging on Billie Piper’s every word hoping for a kiss. In fact, they sugge... Read full article

Boom Town (1940)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 28, 2018 From 4 Star Films

Clark Gable was anxious to do a movie about oil — wildcatters as they call ’em — because his father had been an oil man. Of course, MGM was looking to put him in such a picture too and when a certain story was published in Cosmopolitan it would prove the inspiration for Jack Conway... Read full article

Holy Moly Discovery: Boom Town (1940)

By Vanessa Buttino on Apr 30, 2014 From Stardust

Holy Moly Discovery: Boom Town (1940) L-R: Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, and Frank Morgan in Boom Town (1940). Many punches are thrown in Boom Town and that's just the way I like my classic films! Right on the chin, brother! I've had this movie in my DVD collec... Read full article

Boom Town (1940)

By Lindsey on Jul 2, 2012 From The Motion Pictures

Big John (Clark Gable) and Square John (Spencer Tracy) are two good buddies who travel around, conning oil equipment out of people in order to eventually develop their own fields. They make a few enemies and owe a bit of money along the way, but eventually get a little plot set up and start drilling... Read full article

Boom Town (1)

By RBuccicone on Jan 25, 2012 From MacGuffin Movies

Boom Town (1940)      One could potentially maintain a blog focused solely on movies employing the hackneyed plot element that ties financial success with romantic promiscuity. Thankfully this approach is usually a minor aspect of a greater story as is the case of the two very different movies I... Read full article

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Boom Town Quotes:

Big John McMasters: This is an old-time barroom fight. The man who hits first wins, and that's me.
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!
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]
Big John McMasters: [to Elizabeth] You sure can talk straight to a fella and ball him up at the same time.
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Boom Town Facts
Rita Hayworth did a screen test for the role of Karen Vanmeer.
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.
This was the last of three films (after San Francisco and Test Pilot) that Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy did together. After this film, Tracy insisted on a clause in his MGM contract that he would receive equal billing with Gable in all future films. While the two remained lifelong friends, they were never again paired together in a movie because MGM wasn't sure how to handle the equal billing.
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