Bomba y los elefantes

The sixth Bomba movie starring Johnny Sheffield has Bomba learning to read from beautiful Lola (Donna Martell). Lola is interested in Bomba for more than his mind but, as was the case in most of these movies, Bomba will have none of that. So, to make him jealous, Lola starts flirting with one of two ivory poachers. Bomba doesn't care about the flirting but he does care about the poaching. So he steps in to put a stop to them killing his elephant friends.

No doubt some modern viewers will read some unintended subtext into the fact that Bomba was often uninterested in the attractive women throwing themselves at him in these movies. I think the real reason was the makers of these movies were aiming them at little boys who didn't like 'mushy stuff,' as well as the comic value that comes from some of these situations. Anyway, the series really needed a Jane like Tarzan had. It's unfortunate they didn't see it that way but that's just one of the many reasons this series never rises above middling juvenile entertainment. This entry is par for the course with the usual rear projection effects and stock footage but there is a nice supporting cast, which helps.

The least that can be said about "Elephant Stampede" (1951) is that it offers equal-opportunity eye-candy to both genders of viewers: Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) looks jacked and hunky, and his female friend in this episode, Donna Martell, has an especially nice back. Other than that, the plot of this film could not be more standard (ivory hunters....again), though at least it does deliver on the title promise by the end, even if only on a small scale. There is also one particular shot, of the bad guys shooting a vine that Bomba is swinging on, that I think I've seen reused in every Bomba film so far! ** out of 4.

ELEPHANT STAMPEDE (Monogram, 1951), with screenplay and direction by Ford Beebe, marks the sixth entry to the "Bomba, the Jungle Boy" adventure series starring Johnny Sheffield. In one of the better entries, cast change includes Leonard Mudie for Charles Irwin in the role of Bomba's friend, Deputy Commissioner Andy Barnes. As with the earlier segments, there is a young girl about Bomba's age who becomes more interested in him while Bomba's interest is on other things.

The plot development is introduced in three segments before leading to an entire whole: 1) As the camera tracks around the jungle setting, capturing the presence of elephants and other animals starting their day. Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) is seen riding one of the elephants while a hawk rests on his arm. The hawk flies to a tree branch where Bomba senses danger as he sees a snake approaching the bird, where Bomba gets off elephant and saves the day. 2) Lola (Donna Martell), a native girl, is seen ringing the bell for native tribe to enter cottage school of Miss Banks (Edith Evanson) where the missionary teacher gives lessons about the alphabet. During that time, Lola goes to Bomba where they meet at a secret place near the lake where she teaches him letters and how to read . 3) Mark Phillips (Guy Kingsford) is an authorized hunter, accompanied by Bob Warren (John Kellogg) and Joe Collins (Myron Healey). Because Collins has illegally shot and killed an elephant for its ivory, Phillips places him under arrest, but accidentally shoots Phillips during a struggle with the gun. Placing the body under some branches, Warren takes his credentials and assumes the identity of Phillips so they can hunt for ivory. As Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) meets and takes Collins and "Phillips," to the village to meet with Miss Banks, she secretly tells Barnes she suspects the men are not what they appear to be, considering the fact that she knows Mark Phillips, and the man pretending to be him has a "W" label on his buckle. As Andy heads back to the station to check up on these men by telegram, he asks Bomba to watch over these men and not to do anything until he returns. Later, Warren and Collins discover Bomba has discovered the body of Phillips, with intentions of killing him before tricking the native chief Nagala (Martin WIlkins) into revealing the secret cave where the cache of ivory is stored.

Pretty good "Bomba" adventure that presents Donna Martell teaching Bomba how to read and spell, though her notions are more on the romantic side than his lessons. To make him jealous, she joins forces with the ivory hunters, unaware that they are using her for their personal gain. Of the villains, John Kellogg, whose physical mannerisms comes as a reminded to character actor, Douglas Fowley, stands out through his vicious presence showing no remorse for his evil actions. Moving in episodic manner like a chapter serial with enough material for its 71 minutes, the movie title eventually comes to full swing late into the story.

Commonly shown on broadcast television during the 1960s and 1970s on morning or afternoons for the juvenile viewers, ELEPHANT STAMPEDE and other Bomba adventures can presently be seen on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 6, 2012). Next in the series: AFRICAN TREASURE (1952) (**)

When you have seen one BOMBAs series film, it's the same with the JUNGLE JIM series too, you have seen all of them. More or less.... Unlike the TARZAN films, which were very variable, depending of the producers, directors and actors playing Tarzan, the BOMBAs and JUNGLE JIM's were all alike. Most of the time, the villains are all White, hunters, nazis, Uranium, diamond, gold seekers, or also ivory traffic goons. Many many stock shots, but all those films, which this movie belongs to, were all fun, excellent time waster, under the condition you watch them once in a while. Ford Beebe provided the bulk of Bomba. And the producer was at least not the infamous Sam Katzman but the famous Walter Mirish. Who will be famous for bigger budgets later. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, MAGNIFICENT SEVEN...

Miss Banks is a white missionary teacher in the jungle. Her assistant Lola teaches Bomba the Jungle Boy. Joe Collins and Bob Warren are two white big-game hunters who surprise their guide and start illegally killing elephants for their tusks. There is a local cache of ivory which would be a jackpot for the hunters.

This is a Bomba movie and I don't have high expectations. The elephants are mostly in stock footage or probably hired circus elephants. I don't know what I want, but I want more elephant fun. I find most of the movie very boring with bad acting. There are little ok scenes scattered around, but it's not enough.