Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

lasttimeisaw A chipper oldie ravishes its spectator with a gung-ho complexion that is so disarming a benignant viewer might be completely oblivious of its cut-throat capitalistic machination which is attendant with the plot's boom-and-bust vagaries. Two wildcatters Big John McMasters (Gable) and Square John Sand (Tracy) hit it off quickly (thanks to their mutual instinct of dodging potshots), and bouncily go for it in their oil rigging enterprise, there are hits and misses ongoing, but their archetypal bromance is put into a critical test when they are both besotted with the same dame, Betsy Bartlett (Colbert). The narrative cavalierly pass the buck to Betsy since Big John has no inkling that she is Square John's gal, but Betsy knows Big John alright, which doesn't stop her from jilting a more matter-of-fact Square John for the newly ignited coup-de-foudre (and it all happened one night!). Thankfully, the reunited Gable-Colbert pair knows how to play the flirtatious bonhomie right, and a bluff Tracy makes a rather surprising capitulation to the "she is not that into him" situation but is never able to get over her, instead, he becomes the watchdog of their marriage, a resolute assurer that Betsy's happiness is unadulterated. Therefore, the years-spanning story extends into a series friend-or-foe games between Big John and Square John, predicated on Betsy's well-being, hopping from places to places, their fortune alternately ebbs and flows. When at its best, an oil wildfire spectacle is surely awe-inspiring through its matted black-and-white expressionism; yet in its worst, the patchy narrative wears thin quickly when the love triangle equilibrium levels out. So an extrinsic force timely arrives in the form of Hedy Lamarr's drop-dead gorgeous Karen Vanmeer, Big John's business adviser and a socialite who is adept at eavesdropping, as an interloper, she is not beyond reproach but for once, she is presented more than a vacuous bombshell, in fact she has the wiles to apply her own counter- moves when Square John tries to buy her out.Slightly tortuous in its story-line, and 77 years have passed, Jack Conway's BOOM TOWN has sustained to evince a pristine luster in pointing up two of the most peddled attributes of America: the land of opportunity and the propitious everything-will-be-fine motto.

Robert J. Maxwell MGM produced a good number of these pictures -- two pals driven apart (for a time) by a woman. In more than one case, Clark Gable was the raffish go-getter and his pal, Spencer Tracy, was the more grounded and less reckless partner.Here, the two are partners in a wildcatting oil drill in Texas in the earlier years of the century. They're both broke and have a lot of fun talking investors into funding their enterprise, stealing equipment, and celebrating when the oil comes in. It's the beginning of the automobile explosion and the oil is black gold. They also use oil in the production of lubrication, WD-40, plastic, cosmetics and ointment.The fly in the ointment is Claudette Colbert. She's a City Mouse whom Tracy deeply loves. But when she comes to Texas for a visit, seeking adventure, she runs into Gable first and the next thing, they're married. Tracy handles the news very well, but it sets up a competitive and unforgiving conflict between the two which is happily resolved at the end, when the principals march, arms linked, across the tawny hills of California's central valley, ready to start again as pals, and somebody mentions the place is called Kettleman Hills. Discovered in 1928, it was one of the biggest oil fields in California, now depleted of all but one half of one percent of its original oil.Well, there's hardly a dull moment in the movie. In fact, there IS no dull moment in the movie. There's always Gable glad-handing everyone, Tracy glowering, Colbert wondering if Gable really loves her, and Hedy Lamarr glowing with her incendiary sensuality. It's hardly worth repeating that Hedy Lamarr was not her real name. It's far to good to be true. Her actual name was Hedy Keester von Rauchen-Verboten. There's a lot of shouting and one good brawl before Gable and Tracy renew their bond. Fist fights are the only way that REAL MEN can resolve their differences. Can you imagine them sitting around and discussing their opposing values? "How do you feel about my stealing your girl, Square John?" "Oh, I don't know. I -- I feel all EMPTY inside. (Sob.)" You'll love it.

DKosty123 This is a case of a film with an amazing cast being done well as a period piece but which is an aging piece of film. The version I watched seemed choppy in sequences, including the first encounter between Gable & Tracy where the first time Gable calls him Shorty was missing. As I kept viewing this copy, it appeared the sequences were choppy & I can't believe when this film was first released it was that choppy. The question is can it be restored or is there a better copy than the one I saw.This cast of 4 heavy hitters with Tracy, Gable, Hedy Lamaar & Claudet Colbert is almost bigger than the screen. Add in Frank Morgan & Chill Wills and you have to wonder why all these folks were available for the same film. While this is a good film, it could have been a little better.It is interesting seeing & hearing Spencer Tracy make a closing speech in court where he mentions conservation of oil years before the industry even had any programs about this. Especially being before World War 2 as because of Hitler, environmentalism was scrapped for the war effort in some ways. The war did produce some of the earliest recycling programs in the US.This movie is about Wild Catting for oil and how it really was back in the early days. This is the kind of world which no longer exists. In this era, nobody was too big to fail.

ccthemovieman-1 There was something lacking in this film, not that I didn't like it: it just wasn't as good as it should have been. There was an intensity missing. I found it tough to get involved with the story and the characters.The cast was terrific: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, Chill Wills - are you kidding me? That's an incredible cast. Gable had the lead as the cocky oil wildcatter "John McMasters" and Tracy has his more controlled friend "John Sand." The latter is more than leery of his buddy which turns out to be prophetic as McMasters marries the woman Sands had his eyes on: "Elizabeth Bartlett," called "Besty" in the film and played by Colbert. However, he accepts it in a mature manner.This romance angle comes and goes just like the oil fortunes of these two men. One day they're up; the next day, they're broke. Lamar enters the picture to give it another melodrama twist. That's probably why I was bit letdown in the end. The romances took over from the rousing man's adventure story I thought it was going to be, and looked like it was going to be in the first part of the story. However, I guess they figured women might not come to the theater if there were no complicated romance issues among the tales of two man grubby oilmen. I would have preferred the grubbiness, as this turned out to be a little too long and boring, despite those dynamic lead actors.