Boom Town

Boom Town (1940)

Where Men Are Rough And Tough . . . And Like Their Women The Same Way !

Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a twenty year period both love the same woman. McMasters and Sand come to oil towns to get rich. Betsy comes West intending to marry Sand but marries McMasters instead. Getting rich and losing it all teaches McMasters and Sand the value of personal ties.

Date of release
1940-08-30
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (64)
Runtime
1h 59m
Genres
Adventure, Drama, Romance, Western
Director
Jack Conway

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 2

Boom Town is a 1940 American Neo-western film starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, and Hedy Lamarr, and directed by Jack Conway. The supporting cast features Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, and Chill Wills. A story written by James Edward Grant in Cosmopolitan magazine entitled "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" provided the inspiration for the film. The film was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Production

MGM had been looking for a project set in the oil fields as a vehicle for Clark Gable for some time. They optioned the short story "The Lady Comes to Burkburnett" in November 1938.

The actress originally considered for the female lead role was Myrna Loy, for whom the part was written. Instead, this became the second, and last, pairing of Colbert and Gable, who had starred together in It Happened One Night. Gable and Spencer Tracy had also worked together before, in two other films, San Francisco and Test Pilot.

The movie was the first Gable made under a new seven-year contract with MGM. Tracy, in fact, brooded over his second-billing status during the filming of Boom Town and was reportedly unpleasant to deal with. He especially did not get along with either of the female leads.

Some of the location shooting for the film took place in South Belridge, California.

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