Bomba dans la cité mystérieuse

Nature photographer Dennis Johnson is taken with Bomba the jungle boy, a white guy swinging from tree to tree. Dennis arrives in the Hidden City and is invited in front of the Emir who agrees to send a party to join his expedition. The Emir secretly wants to kill Bomba. Bomba is rescued by Zidah who does not want to join the Emir's harem. She escapes into the jungle to follow Bomba.

I've never heard of Bomba, the book or the series or anything. In here, he's a less than appealing character. He is both clueless and a jerk. He can't get away from Zita fast enough. She's a damsel in distress and he is desperate to leave her behind. Even Dennis Johnson is problematic. He knows enough that the Emir wants to kill the jungle boy but he insists on seeking him out anyways. This is bad Tarzan. The whole premise is that Bomba holds the secret which threatens the Emir when in fact, the secret is nicely kept in a trunk by the Emir so that everybody can discover it at a convenient time. It's a lot writing flaws which eventually overcomes whatever charms that came with these actors and characters.

Many of the MGM Tarzan films were exceptionally good and well made. Wanting to cash in on the studio's success, many lesser production companies also made similar films, though with a fraction of the budget or attention to details. Most of these Tarzan and Tarzan-like films from other studios stink when you see them today. Too often, the films are filled with poorly integrated stock footage and silly acting...though Monogram Studio's "Bomba and the Hidden City" is a bit of an exception. It lacks the usual cheep stock footage and is a bit more plot-driven than usual.

In "Bomba and the Hidden City", some white explorer has heard reports of a white boy living in the wild. He's interested in finding Bomba...and asks the absolutely worst person to assist him, the local Emir (Paul Guilfoyle). Why? Because the man is scum...and he has a secret that Bomba knows. But what is the secret? And, how does it fit in with a headstrong young lady he's just met?

As I mentioned above, the film is NOT filled with awful stock footage...a problem in most low-budget Tarzan-style films. It does feature some American Alligators near the end, which is odd for Africa...but so are all the Arabs living in a jungle! You just have to not ask yourself quesitons about such things, though it's REALLY hard to understand how the young lady cannot recall her parents nor the Emir's actions considering the photo of her with her folks that you see near the end. It appears that the incident must have occurred a year or two previously...so how could the young lady have zero memory of them? She doesn't seem to be suffering from a head injury and I think it's just a plot hole. Still, despite several reasonable gripes due to the writing, it is better than the average Bomba film and is harmless fun.

Although Bomba And The Hidden City has some oblique references to the real outside world when the late World War II is mentioned, this one has to rate as one of the lesser Bomba The Jungle Boy Features.

This film finds Johnny Sheffield oddly enough the witness to an assassination in the jungle of the former rulers of the Hidden City which has a Moslem culture. The surviving daughter Sue England grew up like the other twin in The Man In The Iron Mask with no knowledge of her legacy. It's a case of jungle amnesia. If he knew the usurper veteran movie villain Paul Guilfoyle would kill her.

A lot of the plot here really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I blame that on the bad editing at Monagram Pictures. And Bomba also has a few escapes that should never have happened.

The evil Emir Hassan tries to have Bomba killed. Although he's injured, Bomba manages to get away and is nursed back to health by a pretty village girl named Zita (Sue England). Zita develops a crush on Bomba and follows him into the jungle so she won't have to marry Hassan. Turns out Zita has forgotten her past. In an unbelievable twist, Bomba remembers some things that help him piece together who Zita really is.

The fourth in Monogram's Bomba series starring Johnny Sheffield is a particularly plot-heavy entry. This is the first one to leave the set and film on location. No, not in Africa. Don't be silly. All the pennies in Monogram's piggy bank couldn't have paid for that. I'm not sure where they filmed at. If I had to guess, I would say the LA Arboretum. This one also has some good action scenes and less cheesy stock footage. Pretty Sue England is fun and has nice chemistry with Sheffield. But since these movies were aimed at little boys, they never allowed much "mushy stuff." It's probably the best of the Bomba movies, going solely by entertainment value and nothing more.

Another adventure for Bomba, the jungle boy. Here, John Sheffield is the wild jungle dude, who has befriended Zidah. Sheffield had first played Bomba back in 1939, and will play him for another five years before leaving hollywood. The local emir decides to take out Bomba; apparently, Bomba knows that Zidah was the rightful princess. Now, there is a hunting expedition led by Johnson (Damian O'flynn) to try to knock him off. Bomba is injured, but is helped by Zidah (Sue England). adventures, entanglements. Sheffield was only 18 or 19 at this point. it's ok. clearly aimed at the younger audience. directed by Ford Beebe, who had been directing Bomba and other adventure films since 1921 !