Boom Town is my favorite film in the Clark Gable Signature Collection box set. It features a fine rivalry between Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, with support from Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr.
Set in 1918 in Texas, John Sand (Spencer Tracy) has a plot of land that he knows has oil under it. He approaches Luther Aldrich (Frank Morgan – the Wizard of Oz), a local equipment supplier, but Aldrich won’t give him any drilling equipment on credit. John is walking across a wood plank that keeps you from having to tromp through the muddy streets of town and he’s paid four bits for the privilege.
Unfortunately, another party has also paid their four bits and is coming the other way on the same plank. Big John McMasters (Clark Gable) tells “shorty” that he should step aside and let him pass. The two are about to have a fight to decide who gets right of way when Deputy Harmony Jones (Chill Wills) shoots at a criminal and both men dive into the muck. A friendship is born in the muddy water. They decide to go into business together and since McMasters is friendly with Aldrich he convinces him to let him deliver a load of drilling equipment.
The plan is for Sands to hijack the equipment, but Aldrich makes Harmony go along for the ride. McMasters has to fake cowardice to keep sure shot Harmony from plugging the disguised Sands. The boys get the equipment they need to drill but come to another impasse when deciding where to drill. It’s decided by coin toss that they should drill where Sands wants and only come up with salt water. Aldrich and Harmony are in hot pursuit so the boys decide to go to work in the fields across the country until they have enough money to drill in the spot that McMasters suggested.
They raise the money and convince Aldrich to make up the difference for a share in the profits. They drill in the spot and Sands names the well after the girl he’s been writing to. McMasters decides to go into town for a meal and some salooning. He spies Elizabeth (Claudette Colbert) and its love at first sight and after an evening of romancing they decide to tie the knot.
A muddy friendship
Meanwhile, Sands and Harmony strike a gusher! Sands comes into town and finds McMasters with his new wife Elizabeth. Not much to our surprise (you could see this one coming a mile away), Elizabeth is the girl that Sands has writing to. This causes Sands and McMasters’ friendship to go the other way. Some time later, after a harrowing evening trying to stop a well fire, another coin toss gives full ownership of the wells to Sands. The two friends’ fortunes seem to change through the years and with each meeting, if Sands is successful then McMasters is not and vice versa.
Towards the end of the film, McMasters is on top and has Karen Vanmeer (Hedy Lamarr), his mistress and oil industry cocktail party spy. McMasters’ infidelities causes Elizabeth to take desperate measures. Sands still has a flame for Elizabeth and comes up with a plan to get McMasters to appreciate her, but will it cost them everything?
As I said, Boom Town was my favorite out of all the films in the Gable box set (San Francisco was probably second). The rivalry between Gable and Tracy gets much more screen time than the one that was in San Francisco (not that it was too much of a rivalry, Boom Town’s in much more pronounced).
Boom Town also has a fine supporting cast, including Frank Morgan as the befuddled equipment supplier, Chill Wills as the deputy that would rather cook than kill, and Lionel Atwill as McMaster’s California rival. Colbert and Lamarr also provide fine performances.
Boom Town is presented in fullscreen as it was originally shown. Special features include the 9 minute vintage short “Hollywood Hobbies.” It shows the hobbies (most likely arranged by the studios) of several big stars. Reginald Denny builds model airplanes.
Clark Gable whitewashes his barn for relaxation. Robert Young and Allan Jones run a stable. James Stewart and a host of other stars, including Spencer Tracy, also appear at a baseball game. The next is a 8 minute cartoon called “Home on the Range” where a lost calf is saved from a wolf by a helpful jackrabbit. The final feature is the film’s theatrical trailer.
Luther, Big John, Elizabeth, and John Sands
I thought that Boom Town was a fine film. However, the more environmental friendly in the audience may not cotton to the zeal at which our heroes drill for black gold. Tracy’s final court room speech extolling the virtues of Gable’s capitalism will have the environmentalists pulling out their hair. However, I really just liked the dynamic between Tracy and Gable and if they concentrate on that then maybe those aspects will not bother them.
Boom Town is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information. The film is also part of the Clark Gable Signature Collection DVD box set now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
USA
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