Ramar of the Jungle

Just as Hollywood was getting far more realistic in its depiction of Africa starting with The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines, television took up the slack with all the clichés that had been done in Africa based films.

Ramar of the Jungle was filmed as a syndicated series in the last days of European colonialism. It starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds who was born to missionary parents there and now was giving back to the community so to speak. His science sidekick was Ray Montgomery as Howard Ogden who was simply identified as a chemist. These two were in every episode.

Hall and Montgomery had several other regulars, a different guide every season. James Fairfax was in for one season as Charley Smart who hailed from Capetown. The show moved to India for a season and latino actor Victor Millan played Zahir who was a Hindu. Then they were back in Africa and it was Nick Stewart as Willy Willy self proclaimed best guide in all Africa. In addition in the first season Ludwig Stossel and M'liss McClure played the Van Dynes father and daughter who owned a trading post. Ramar might have had a little something something going with Ms. Van Dyne, but she was dropped so Ramar concentrated strictly on science and medicine for the rest of the run.

For a scientist Hall certainly got into a whole lot of trouble every episode and most of the time it wasn't necessarily coming out of his research and/or medical practice.

Like another reviewer I too had a Ramar of the Jungle board game as a lad and I remember it seemed Ramar was in syndication on Channel 11 in New York forever. I'm sure if I saw the episodes today I'd probably laugh and be mortified at the appalling ignorance of the show's creators. It certainly couldn't be marketed today given it's white man's burden outlook.

Still I do have a bit of nostalgia for Hall and Montgomery and all the trouble they managed to get into.

I enjoyed this series as a kid in the 1950's, and I am enjoying it even more now with the DVD releases. Dr. Reynolds and Professor Ogden (Jon Hall and Ray Montgomery) were one of the smoothest working teams ever! Some of their adventures were in Africa while others were in India, but they never failed to provide wholesome (although sometimes violent) entertainment. Their supporting characters (James Fairfax as Charlie, Ludwig Stossel as Peter Van Tyne, M'Liss McClure as Trudy Van Tyne, Nick Stewart as Willy-Willy, and Victor Millan as Zahir) were always dependable, loyal, and lovable. If you like jungle adventures, this series is really fun to watch!

Though Ramar of the Jungle was probably also filmed at Corriganville, a lot of the jungle scenes were filmed at the LA Arboretum in Arcadia at the Lucky Baldwin estate. in the so called jungle garden. I remember going out there and seeing where it was filmed according to the guides......Also the animal scenes were taken from the ???Johnsons who did extensive filming of animals in Africa. It was a regular viewing at our home even in reruns. The first he was in a tent then a lab then was in India for some reason. Reruns ran a long time on channel 11 in the afternoons and us kids never missed them.....one bad guys were named Galvin and Danforth a favorite line which I still remember was....take your time, but HURRY.......

Ramar was weekly viewing fare in our house. What would seem corny to today's children was then watched in awe. Information would come to the party via a runner who had to cover more miles than a Range Roveer to get there. I seem to recall a Territorial police official who seems to appear out of nowhere to take someone into custody after Reynolds and Ogden ended their criminal career. Looking back I can still see some of the makeup and costumes that had a lot to be desired to be convincing by today's standards. But, that was then and the good guys always won. There was always a good moral ending to each episode. Babbet the monkey, was a great character too. I even had a "Ramar of the Jungle" board game! I would love to watch this series today.

With the coming of television, the smaller Hollywood studios, which had specialized in low-budget movies and serials, were pushed out of theaters, but found a new market ideally suited for the disciplines of their 'assembly-line' productions (short shooting schedules for each episode, reliance on standing sets and stock footage, simple action-oriented plots) in the new media, and many serial 'flavored' series appeared. "Ramar of the Jungle" was one example, and while it didn't enjoy the success of "The Adventures of Superman" or "The Lone Ranger", it was still a fast-paced, exotic-looking adventure show which captivated younger viewers, like me!

Jon Hall, best-known for his RKO 'Arabian Nights' swashbucklers during WWII, starred, as Dr. Tom Reynolds, a man dedicated to healing ('Ramar' was a native term for 'Medicine Man'), who seemed to spend most of his life working out of his tent in the middle of the jungle. His partner, Prof. Howard Ogden (played by happy-go-lucky Ray Montgomery, another film veteran), had a habit of getting the pair into hot water, but also had the scientific skills to implement the solutions that Reynolds would come up with. Dealing with evil hunters and thieves who would come to the jungle to plunder, Reynolds would always arrive in the nick of time to defend the African natives, and save the day.

It wasn't a particularly intellectual show, but it was fun, and Hall and Montgomery had an easy-going chemistry together (and they looked very cool, dressed in khakis!)

Ah, the joys of television during the early days!