Bomba and the Jungle Girl

This could be called the origin of Bomba (Johnny Sheffield). As such, the story is more interesting than usual. Presently, in picturesque Africa, the jungle boy watches different animals with their children. Bomba is sad because every animal in the jungle has father and mother but him. This leads Bomba on a journey of self-discovery. We will finally see the fate of Bomba's parents, John and Laura Hastings. An entertaining "native" Suzette Harbin (as Baru) plays a large part. She's silly, but fun to watch. The pretty girl role is filled exceptionally well by Karen Sharpe (as Linda Ward). Of course, she has a swimming scene. Cast wisely, Ms. Sharpe beautifully fills her one-piece bathing suit. Also lifting this entry is a nicely edited fire sequence. The smoke, controlled background fires and added foreground effects are quite effective. Some acting rehearsals and flashback scenes might have improved this story, along with a more appropriate title.

***** Bomba and the Jungle Girl (12/7/52) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Karen Sharpe, Walter Sande, Suzette Harbin

Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The eighth film in Monogram's series once again has Johnny Sheffield playing Bomba, the jungle boy who in this adventure meets a jungle girl (Karen Sharpe) and the two try to figure out who his parents were. With the help of a partial diary, the two set out to learn the truth yet you know there are going to be complications. Having been watching the Bomba series in the order that they were made, I have no idea what the last four films will hold but there's no question that it appears everyone involved were running out of ideas. There's really not too much to say about this film that I haven't said about previous entries. This one here features a pretty boring story where not much happens except that our hero has a new female lead and we get countless scenes where they talk about things that they're going to do. Every ten minutes or so we get an action scene that is full of silly gunshots and every once in a while we get stock footage to go with it. The start of the film has our female swimming in a river for no reason other than a crocodile to show up and she of course will need Bomba to save her. I think the croc used here is different than the previous couple films as was the stock footage showing the real one. The story itself is pretty bland because after the first few minutes you realize that you really don't care what happened to Bomba's parents and your only main goal is getting through all the madness.

"Bomba" (Johnny Sheffield) makes quite an horrific discovery one morning when his visit to a cave reveals some long-dead corpses. He decides that a decent burial ought to be in order and so sets out to discover a little more about them. The local village seems a good place to start, but he comes up against a bit of a bamboo-wall of silence. Meantime, the visiting "Ward" family - dad and daughter (as usual) - might be able to help and rue to form he and the young "Linda" (Karen Sharpe) start to get along nicely. It's only when he finds a tribesman who confides the real reason for the obfuscation that the young man and his new friends must face a difficult truth. Insofar as it goes, this is quite a menacing little tale that quite effectively uses the (studio) jungle scenario to tell a story of wickedness, murder and duplicity - and in his usually flighty fashion, the young Sheffield carries it off fine. Sure, just about every expense has been spared with the production but he works well with the visiting Sharpe and though it takes a long-outdated perspective of tribal and superstitious life in Africa, it has just about enough action to pass an hour effortlessly enough.

Writer-director Ford Beebe surprisingly didn't lose steam helming this, the eighth picture in Monogram's "Bomba" serial; rather, Beebe comes through with one of his meatiest scripts for the low-budget franchise, allowing Bomba to have normal thoughts, questions and emotions about his own history. It's springtime in the Congo, with Bomba taking notice of the circle of life happening all around him, yet feeling saddened by his own lack of family. After saving the daughter of a government agent from an alligator attack, Bomba learns his parents were killed many years ago and that a native nurse (presumed dead as well) knew the secret behind their mysterious fate. Like the previous "Bomba" movies, this installment's charm is of a strictly modest variety--only nostalgic grown-ups need apply--however, the film's villainess (the daughter of a phony village chief) is amusingly intimidating, and Johnny Sheffield's Bomba thinks clearly and acts cleverly. The production is predictably crude, though the stock footage is kept to a minimum and the dialogue (strong this time) carries the plot ably without being chopped up into staccato bits and pieces. **1/2 from ****

BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL (Monogram, 1952), written and directed by Ford Beebe, based upon the character by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" Books, stars Johnny Sheffield in the title role in the eighth installment of this "second feature" adventure series. While title leaves impression of Bomba meeting a displaced jungle girl, helping her find her family by assisting her through long journey and adventure before reaching some obscure village, no such thing occurs. A somewhat misleading title actually revolves more on the displaced jungle boy wanting to know more about himself and whom his people are.

The story gets underway as Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) observes the animals around him. He thinks to himself, "Every animal in the jungle has a mother and father but me. I don't even know who I am." This sets the pattern of what's to come. Bomba finds a book inside a cave that could lead to his true identity. By taking it over to his friend, Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) for translation, it is revealed the book to be a diary written by Cody Casson, a man now deceased, who found and raised Bomba when he was three. It is learned that Bomba's parents are John and Laura Hastings (possibly Hawkins), and that his father was a mapmaker living among the native tribe. Since Bomba, who likes the surname of "Hastings" best, wants to know more about his family, he decides to travel to the village where it all began many years ago. Along the way Bomba sees and rescues Linda Ward (Karen Sharpe) from an crocodile attack, who in turn shoots the crocodile as Bomba gets overpowered by it. Through a twist of fate, Bomba finds that Linda's father, Lawrence (Walter Sande) is a government agent inspecting living conditions of that same tribal village where he's headed. During his quest for information, Bomba discovers his parents were murdered, and intends on finding out who's responsible. To prevent Bomba from learning the truth from Linasi (Amanda Randolph), a blind woman who was once his native nurse, Gamboso (Martin Wilkins), the tribal leader, and Boru (Suzette Harbin), his daughter, arrange to have the woman killed by a poisoned dart from a blow gun, and placing Bomba under arrest for her murder. Set free by Linda, Bomba later makes every effort to save father and daughter from whatever danger lies ahead, at the same time, getting to the main source to his family mystery without getting himself targeted by death.

Based on the plot summary, there's no jungle girl, unless one counts the Linda character, who's never seen in jungle clothes. As much as BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL is often dismissed as one of the lesser entries, it is, in fact, a satisfactory one. Contrary, the summary used in this edition is one that would have served best for the first in the series, BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY (1949) rather than the plot used, consisting more time on the supporting safari players and hardly anything on Bomba's origin and how he came to be a lone jungle boy with a sphere. By this time, Ford Beebe, who scripted the entire "Bomba" adventures, slightly broke away from traditional "Bomba" stories by setting the pattern more towards Bomba's unknown heritage. By doing this, he adds further excitement placing Bomba's life in peril. Playing more like a murder mystery set in the jungle, it gets by on the material and limited production values it has. Below average acting from newcomer Karen Sharpe, along with a not-so-convincing demise of one of the villains, can be contributed towards the film's weakness, but overall, a passable 72 minutes. Others members of the cast include Morris Buchanan in notable support as Kokoli, a native who risks his life assisting Bomba; Don Blackman, Bruce Carruther, Roy Glenn, and Bomba's pet monkey, N'Kimba, doing what Cheta of the "Tarzan" movie series did best, attracting whatever attention in the "comedy relief" department.

Being the last "Bomba" adventure produced by Monogram, in fact, the last Monogram film ever release, the duration of the "Bomba" series (1949-1955) were distributed by Allied Artists. Unseen on cable television since Turner Network Television's broadcast in 1992 and 1993, BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL has joined forces, along with other "Bomba" adventures, as worthy presentations on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere January 21, 2012). Next in the series: SAFARI DRUMS (1953). (**)