Oil! The ebony lifeblood of American industry... and of mighty fortunes made and lost. In search of one of those black-gold fortunes, two bare-knuckle wildcatters dream, scheme, team up and square off in the make-or-break frenzy of a Texas Boom Town. In this pyrotechnics-filled film classic, the only things bigger than the adventure are the four stars: screen giants Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy as the oilmen and Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr as the women in their tumultuous lives. As the foursome struggle through the personal upheaval of love and loyalties, wealth comes a gusher ? and a rig bursts into a screen-filling inferno that could turn dreams to dust. No wonder Boom Town boomed at the box office, too, as the biggest moneymaker of 1940.

Two rough-and-tumble wildcatters strike it rich in the dusty oil fields of Oklahoma. Not much of a story here but good star performances make it worthwhile. This was nominated for an Academy Award for Best (Black-and-White) Cinematography and Best Special Effects, so why bother with the colorized version'