Boom Town: A Review

BOOM TOWN

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Hedy Lamarr.

Fortunes rise and fall among the oil barons in Boom Town, a strong saga of the daring men who seek fortune and the women who love them. 

"Big" John McMasters (Clark Gable) and "Square" John (or Jonathan) Sand (Spencer Tracy) are both in the new town of Burkburnett, Texas in 1918. They aim separately to strike it rich as oil prospectors, better known as "wildcatters". They initially do not like the other. Sand in particular dislikes how McMasters keeps calling him "Shorty" (Gable at 6 feet did stand taller than the 5'9-10" Tracy). Circumstances, however, bring them together. Sand has the land but not the money for equipment. McMasters has some cash but no leases. They join forces and keep hoodwinking to downright stealing material from oil machine supplier Luther Aldrich (Frank Morgan).

Sand pines for a beautiful girl. McMasters, while in town, encounters newly arrived beauty Elizabeth Bartlett (Claudette Colbert). They marry within a day of meeting, but McMasters soon learns to his horror that "Elizabeth" is really the "Betsy" that Sand has been pining for. Bartlett, who initially had played with McMasters as a joke, had come to town to make clear that she was fond of but not in love with Sand. She hadn't planned on falling in love with his frenemy. 

Despite this, McMasters and Sand continue working together. A near-disaster, however, pulls them apart and they go their separate ways. Nevertheless, their lives continue to cross paths. Sand is protective of Betsy even though she is firmly loyal and devoted to McMasters. Sand is especially leery of McMasters' newest aide, socialite Karen Vanmeer (Hedy Lamarr). He also sees that McMasters, despite his great success, has put his wife and son Jack to the side. What role does their mutual rival Harry Compton (Lionel Atwill) have in bringing both down? Will these two men keep breaking up and reconciling? Who will end up with Big John: Betsy or Karen?

Boom Town keeps a pretty solid pace despite its almost two-hour runtime. Credit should be given to director Jack Conway for keeping things brisk. We see in Boom Town how these two men went from rivals to friends and back and forth throughout the film. In some ways, Boom Town could be seen as an ode to the bonds of male friendship. It takes a big man to essentially forgo the woman he was sweet on to his bestie. 

While today I think the quickie marriage would not be believed, I imagine that this is the only way to have McMasters be seen with Bartlett in the morning. In his defense, McMasters did not know about Betsy's true identity and Betsy did not realize that John was the man that Sand wrote so fondly of. Yet, I digress.

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert reunite in Boom Town after their Oscar-winning roles in It Happened One Night. They showed that they still had great chemistry together. They work well together, the affection that the characters have for each other acted quite well. Gable dominates his scenes with a rapid-fire delivery that seems closer to screwball comedy than romantic Western. Nevertheless, Gable still holds your attention as this tough yet vulnerable figure.

Colbert, when not with Gable (and to be fair, sometimes when she is with him), does come across as slightly mannered in her performance. However, Colbert too did good work as this elegant figure. 

Tracy is able to match Gable in strength as Shorty. His embrace or rejection of this nickname ebbs and flows, depending on where his friendship with McMasters is. At one point, he lashes out at someone who called him Shorty, saying essentially that only McMasters could get away with it. When they were on the outs, he would tell McMasters, "Don't call me Shorty". 

There is no disguising that Hedy Lamarr is beautiful to ravishing. There is also no disguising that it is her beauty and not her acting that we see. Having a thin accent of vague origin, Lamarr seemed a bit distant as Karen. To be fair, it was not a terrible performance. It just was not on the same level as Gable, Tracy or Colbert. 

The real standout in Boom Town is Frank Morgan as the perpetually flustered Aldrich. Morgan is the perfect person to play these flustery, bamboozled men. His looks of confusion and befuddlement to exasperation bring a bit of comic relief to the manly actions of McMasters and Sand. Atwill is strong as the shrewd Compton, who wants to muscle in on McMasters. Chill Wills is the actual comic relief as Harmony Jones, the deputy who is fonder of cooking than of law enforcement. 

Boom Town has some great sequences. Of particular note is when there is a field fire that could kill them all.  The film even manages to have a bit of a laugh at Gable's expense. When Sands comes to visit the McMasters, he quips that he ought to have brought their son Jack a football helmet as a gift. When McMasters tells him that he is too young to play, Sands merely says that the helmet would be for him to sleep in to help with his ears. McMasters seems surprised and I think says, "Hey!". This could be a good-natured jab at Gable's own large ears. 

Boom Town works as good entertainment. It tells its story of friendship among the wildcatters well. It also has strong performances from just about everyone in the film. Boom Town is no bust. 

DECISION: B-