Bomba, der Rächer

The Lion Hunters have come to Africa to do just as the title of the picture says they do. But what they don't know is that the lions are both held as sacred by the Masai tribe and that the area they've chosen is the home of the legendary Bomba the Jungle Boy. He just doesn't like white folks trapping or killing his animal friends as a matter of general principle.

Between the two of these facts, white trappers Morris Ankrum and Douglas Kennedy haven't a chance. Especially Kennedy whose hubris gets the better of him. It's always interesting in these B films how the villains never know when to quit.

Johnny Sheffield is allowed a little puppy love here in the person of Ann E. Todd who is also Ankrum's daughter. She's checking the well built Sheffield out, but he's got his mind on his animals.

The Lion Hunters never gets off the Monogram back lot with plenty of stock jungle footage supporting a hackneyed plot.

***SPOILER*** It's when "Bomba the Jungle Boy", Johnny Sheffield, spots a fatally wounded lion in the African bush he's forced to put the big cat down, with his spear, in order to take it out of its misery.

Knowing that the lion, who was shot, was the victim of big game hunters Bomba tracks down the campsite where a number of captured wild African lions are being held captive in bamboo cages. It's then that Bomba does what he does best releasing the lions into the wild. But what Bomba did was also outrage big game lion hunter Marty Martin, Douglas Kennedy. A mad and determined Martin now plans to put an end to Bomba rescuing his fine furry friends as well as Bomba himself.

The collegiate looking Bomba despite his living in the wild all his life is no fool in knowing what Martin is planning to do and stymies him at every turn. Bomba also gets very friendly with Martin's partner Tom Forbes', Morris Ankrum, cute and adorable 19 year old daughter Jean, Ann E. Todd, who despite her dad hunting and trying to capture the big cats, and put them in cages for the rest of their lives, sees Bomba's attempt to rescue them as the right and only "human" thing to do.

With a frustrated Martin getting nowhere in capturing the big cats, by Bomba always turning them loose, he decides to use the local Massai Tribesmen to get the job done for him. That's after the Massai Chief Lohu's, David Richards, nerdy 16 year old son in trying to prove that he's a man ends up getting mauled by a charging lion who in return gets shot by Martin together with the fleeing for life young man!

It's then that Martin tries to pull a fast on on the dead son's dad, the Massai Chief, by tricking him into letting him capture all the lions in the area in order to prevent them from devouring his entire tribe! Of course all this backfires on Martin's part with the lions set on him and his safari by the Massai Chief after finding out that it was Martin not the lion who killed his son. With Martin together with who he still has left, most of the natives on his safari deserted him, having their guns and rifles stolen from them by the Massai's their left to take on the Kings of Beasts with only their bare hands!

Average "Bomba the Jungle Boy" flick with the boyish Johnny Sheffield at the top of his game swinging from jungle vines fighting hand to paw combat with a ferocious lion and spending most of his free time, when he's not saving his jungle friends from game hunters, sitting on a tree branch and shearing a banana with his monkey companion. Bomba also goes so far as saving the villainous Martin's neck from being snapped off by a crocodile which in fact still doesn't get Martin to see Bomba's way; In him leaving the jungle animals, mostly lions, alone. Martin finally gets it, and gets it good, when he's forced to take on the lions that he's been hunting by the Massai tribesmen letting them loose on him in the final moments of the movie!

P.S If there were any two actors who were ever meant to co-star with each other in a movie it had to be Johnny Sheffield and Ann E.Todd. Both Sheffield and Todd were born within three months of each other in 1931 and who's careers spanned, Todd from 1938 to 1954 and Sheffield 1938 to 1955, almost the exact same time period!

THE LION HUNTERS (Monogram, 1951), directed and screenplay by Ford Beebe, based on the character created by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" books, stars Bomba, the Jungle Boy as portrayed by Johnny Sheffield. An average production and fifth entry to the "Bomba" franchise, its not only routine material but the longest (82 minutes) in the series.

Rather than the usual camera tracking opening of animals and jungle scenery, the story immediately introduces Bomba (Johnny Sheffield), followed by his playing with some baby cubs as observed by its mother. Moments later at a distance, Bomba finds the father lion shot and near death. To prevent it from suffering, Bomba sadly puts a spear to him. He then goes about to find the one responsible. At first he believes it to be one of the Masai tribe, until, after communicating with animals in their own language, finds there's a jungle expedition consisting of Forbes (Morris Ankrum), his teenage daughter, Jean (Ann Todd), Jonas (Smoki Whitfeield), the guide, and Martin (Douglas Kennedy) with permit to capture lions to sell. As the lions are captured and caged, Bomba releases them one by one, much to the chagrin of the money hungry Martin. During the course of time, Bomba befriends Jean, who's unable to get Martin to give up on his lion hunt. As Martin tricks Chief Walu (Woodrow Strode), leader of the Masai tribe, to capture the lions for him, he also intends on killing Bomba for continuously getting in his way. Robert Davis as Lobu is also in the cast.

With Bomba befriending former teenage actresses of the 1940s now past their prime in earlier entries as Peggy Ann Garner, Allene Roberts and Sue England, Ann Todd (usually billed as Ann E. Todd) becomes a sort of love interest for the jungle boy for this entry. Her acting at times is sort of lame, but as usual, its the villain, played by Douglas Kennedy, who gathers the most attention. Though Bomba's communication with animals may seem far-fetched to contemporary viewers, its gets by in its comic book sort of way on how he could get information to and from them. Some good scenery and action scene (notably Bomba's fight with a vicious lion), but other than that, standard Bomba material.

Available on DVD, THE LION HUNTERS turns up occasionally on Turner Classic Movies where its been showing since August 2010. Next in the series: AFRICAN TREASURE (1952). (** lion cubs)

These movies were made for kids back when kids had decent role models to look up to. Bomba was a gentle young man with the right attitude and the right morals to show kids. Not like today's 'heroes' that kill and maim and blow up everything and drive cars along the streets like every one else is a stunt driver on the road.

I would much rather live in Bomba's world than today's world. It is too bad that times changed, for the worse, and these kind of movies ended. Like with the "B" western movies, we always knew who the good guy was and what he stood for and in the end he showed us all that the right way is the best way and always produces winners.

With Johnny Sheffield's smile and gentle way of talking, it is a shame that he ended his movie career, but he did much better with the money he made from these movies to build his future. He wasn't just a boy raised in the jungle with animals after all.

It's Bomba the Jungle Boy (Johnny Sheffield). He's playing with the lions when he spots an injured male which has been shot by hunters. Bomba is forced to do a mercy kill. He confronts the Maasai but they insist that it's not them. Tom Forbes and his daughter Jean meet up with his partner Marty Martin who is trapping and killing animals.

I like the animal-friendly message of this movie although there is some animal-unfriendly lion wrestling. No matter how unfriendly, it is still impressive stunt work. The native people are not simpletons or unthinking savages. They actually have a big part in the plot. It may not be modern or that good but it is as good as Bomba movies get.