Lord of the Jungle

The last in the Bomba series starring Johnny Sheffield. This also happens to be the last film of Sheffield's career, as he wisely retired after this. The plot to this one has Bomba trying to stop a rogue elephant in order to prevent an entire herd from being slaughtered by government-sanctioned hunters. The idea that one elephant can essentially lead a herd of them into doing things they don't want to do seems pretty out there but it's best to just go with it. Also this movie introduces the fact that Bomba OWNS the African jungle he inhabits, apparently because his birth father bought it. How this was never mentioned in any of the other movies is beyond me but, again, just go with it.

In addition to Sheffield and regulars Leonard Mudie and Smoki Whitfield, there's a portly Wayne Morris as one of the hunters and Nancy Hale as the niece of Bomba's friend Andy Barnes. She has an obligatory swimming scene, as most of the girls in this series did. Wayne Morris is far removed from his days as a leading man for Warner Bros. If it weren't for his distinctive voice, I might have mistaken him for George Kennedy here. There's even more stock footage than usual in this entry. It's used well and the action scenes with the elephants are good. There are also more scenes of Bomba swinging through the jungle than normal. The Bomba series is not one of my favorites and it is certainly far below the quality of the Tarzan movies Sheffield co-starred in with Johnny Weissmuller. Still, most of them are enjoyable enough and this is a good end to the series.

This is the only Bomba film in which Johnny Sheffield shares top billing with another actor namely chain smoking, overweight, disillusioned Wayne Morris. It is the only one of the series which does not have a human villain. Instead there is a rogue elephant who is leading the rest of the herd to commit mayhem. The crux of the drama is conflict between Bomba who is full of bombast and only wants to shoot the rogue elephant and Wayne Morris who is head of a government licensed group of hunters ordered to shoot the entire herd. The last few of the series injected a sliver of sex by inventing an excuse for the comely heroine,in this case Nancy Hale, to go for a dip with Bomba. They also share a couple of chaste kisses. The budget of this film must have been trimmed more than usual because much of the action is talked about or described rather than seen, but the climax packs a little excitement. Stock footage of wild animals abounds. The rest of the film is padded out with aimless trekking through the jungle in pursuit of the rogue elephant. The script contains gaps in logic and continuity and most of the characters display a lack of common sense. Sheffield fits the role and his loin cloth comfortably. On the strength of Wayne Morris's appearance in this film, the title could have been changed to "Lard of the Jungle". After viewing this effort, it is doubtful if anyone exclaimed, "We could be talking Oscars here!"

Elephant hunters have arrived in Africa, which understandably irks jungle lord Bomba (Johnny Sheffield). It turns out the killing of a herd of elephants is mandated by government officials. The herd is said to have gone "rogue." Bomba argues that only one elephant has gone "rogue" and forbids any killing of elephants on his land. Pretty young Nancy Hale (as Mona Andrews) arrives from London. Yes, she is there for the prerequisite "swimming scene" and must come around after calling Bomba spoiled and stubborn. Her uncle Paul Picerni supports the elephant killing, even though he's Bomba's friend. Bomba considers the elephants his friends, too...

This was the last film in the "Bomba" series. It was always intended as low-budget matinée fare for a young audience and was certainly successful on that level. The genre produced great movies, which can't be claimed here. This entry is representative, and does feature a comparative good level of action, courtesy of Ford Beebe. He does keep the excitement level high. Several segments are edited nicely, too. While the "stock footage" is obvious, you have to compliment Mr. Beebe on how he keeps the performers on track; for example, the plane passengers in the beginning look more realistic in their movements and actions than the jungle footage...

This was also the last film for Mr. Sheffield. He did an unsold pilot for a TV series called "Bantu the Zebra Boy" (1956). It is very much like "Bomba the Jungle Boy" and can be seen on a popular video site. Sheffield was well-suited for his role as Tarzan's "Boy" and "Bomba" but was never quite authentic in the jungle, after maturing into teen and adult years. He was curiously not cut out for the role which made him a star. Keeping fit and being so associated with the genre probably hurt his chances at getting more serious roles. Considering the inclusion of some fine stunts Sheffield performs in this film, he might also have made a convincing comic book hero.

***** Bomba: Lord of the Jungle (6/12/55) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Nancy Hale, Wayne Morris, Paul Picerni

Bomba attempts to stop elephant hunters sent by the government to kill a wild herd, convinced that one rogue pachyderm is responsible for leading the others astray. Johnny Sheffield retired his loincloth and vine rope with this 12th installment in the franchise, which writer-producer-director Ford Beebe began in 1949 via Monogram Pictures (by now transformed into Allied Artists). It was appropriately timed as Sheffield no longer looks like a Jungle Boy, apt to running away from the girls after a chaste kiss. Beebe's method of intercutting wildlife footage from stock with the African-set adventures usually results in a visual hodgepodge; with "Lord", however, the editing is pretty sharp, particularly during the exciting climax. Bomba and a stubborn young woman from London became fast friends (complete with a romantic moonlight smooch), though he ends up aiding her in a reconciliation with her bleeding-heart fiancé and walks away with his standard friendly wave. Amusingly, no female was ever able to topple this lord of the jungle! **1/2 from ****

Lord of the Jungle was the last of the 12 Bomba movies starring Johnny Sheffield as Bomba.

In this last movie, a large group of elephants are on the rampage in the jungle, destroying native villages and killing people. Some hunters go to track them down and kill them. Not if Bomba has anything to do with it. He blames these attacks on just one elephant, the leader of the group. With the help of one of the hunters, he manages to track the leader down and the hunter kills him and the rest of the group disperse.

Like all the Bomba movies I have seen so far, I found Lord of the Jungle enjoyable.

I'm lucky to have a source to get these movies from as they are all hard to get hold of.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.