El fruto dorado

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.

This was the biggest film of the year for MGM in 1940. They used four of their biggest stars, any one of whom could have starred in their own films.

Clark Gable already had an Oscar for It Happened One Night, another nomination for Mutiny on the Bounty, and was nominated in the 1940 Academy Awards for Gone with the Wind.

Spencer Tracy, a nine-time Oscar nominee, already had a nomination for San Francisco, a win for Captains Courageous, and a win the previous year for Boy's Town.

Three-time Oscar nominee Claudette Colbert already had a win for It happened One Night, which she did with Gable, and a nomination for Private Worlds.

Frank Morgan had gotten one of his two nominations for The Affairs of Cellini.

And, our Star of the Month, Hedy Lamarr, was just beginning her career.

This was a raucous film with all the excitement that you would expect in one about wildcatters in the oil business and featured barroom fights, streets of mud, and stories ripped from the headlines. It was an amazing love story about two men in love with the same woman. It was pure entertainment.

My mother grew up in the East Texas oil boom in 1935. This film closely resembles Kilgore Texas. My whole family has been in the business since the early 40's. My father was burned in an oil field explosion and recovered. The film was done well, showing all of the hard work men endured in the fields. This movie is true and correct showing the hardships of the life in the business, from being dirt poor to having the finer things in life. All of the actor's in this movie closely resemble people we have dealt with over the years. I also enjoyed seeing this move in black and white as it focused on the story line rather than a big color feature. I will definitely watch this move again as it brings home the people that risked there lives to bring a product to the people at the beginning of the industrial age with romance and a little humor. I would recommend it to anyone.

A couple of oil-drilling buddies (Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy) strike it rich together. Then a woman (Claudette Colbert) comes between them. Tracy plays O'Brien to Gable's Cagney in this predictable but fun MGM production. All three stars are in good form. Gable gets most of the memorable lines. Hedy Lamarr does well in her villainess role. Nice support from Frank Morgan, Chill Wills, and Lionel Atwill. In addition to Lamarr, Marion Martin provides some eye candy. Action scenes are great but can't mask what is basically a simple soap opera doused in testosterone. Not to mention a love triangle that's pretty weak. It goes on a bit longer than it should but it's still enjoyable. Fans of the stars will like it.

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.