The Golden Idol

Tenth entry in the "Bomba" canon is a drowsily-paced adventure with Johnny Sheffield's resourceful, likable jungle boy the only point of interest--the villains all being cut-outs right off the series' assembly-line. A hunter is hired by the nefarious Prince Ali to retrieve the Golden Idol of Watusi, which he claims is his, stolen by Bomba. Turns out the Arab chieftain forcibly took it from a native, who was left for dead; Bomba promises to get it back. A nice swimming scene between a giddy Bomba and the resident pretty girl (Anne Kimball) is the highlight here, the plot and action being extremely tired. For completists, Bomba is bound and gagged (again), overturns a boat for an underwater fight and--in an amusing Ed Wood-like moment--allows a python to drown one of the bad guys. Regulars Leonard Mudi (as Mr. Barnes) and Smoki Whitfield (as faithful guide Eli) turn in their usual solid supporting performances, but this low-budget quickie would be nothing with Sheffield. *1/2 from ****

Johnny Sheffield was getting pretty old to play Bomba the Jungle BOY in this episode, the tenth of the long-running Monogram series. It is, like all the others, a well-intentioned, decently produced work of knock-off Tarzan fiction, a bit more overt in its early ecological message than the Tarzan series was.

Some good talent lurks here, with Paul Guilefoyle returning and a nice pan shot of the native village across the river to keep people who care about such things happy. The story -- about some baddies seeking revenge on Bomba for being an annoyance while his friends and he are doing some archeology digging -- is just as slight as any of the others. Still, all the signs of competence are there and if you like the series, you will like this one. I find it harmless.

THE GOLDEN IDOL (Allied Artists, 1954), Written, produced and Directed by Ford Beebe, based upon the character created by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" Books, marks the tenth installment of the "Bomba the Jungle Boy" adventures series starring Johnny Sheffield, and the second in the series distributed through Allied Artists. It also marks the return of Paul Guilfoyle, who appeared earlier in BOMBA AND THE HIDDEN CITY (Monogram, 1950), as the Emir Hassan. For this installment, Guilfoyle assumes a similar character under a different name, that as Ali-Ben Mamoud. As with THE HIDDEN CITY, his character rivals Bomba and wants to make him suffer as he made him suffer. Flashback sequences foretell what Bomba did to have Mamoud become his enemy, that along with underwater sequences and vine swinging scenes lifted from the earlier installment making those familiar with the series to believe they are watching THE HIDDEN CITY instead of THE GOLDEN IDOL, even when the results similarity different.

The story begins in the village where ivory hunter, Joe Hawkins (Lane Bradford), arrives by jeep to meet with Ali Ben Mamoud (Paul Guilfoyle), who hires the most craftiest hunter in all Africa to help him retrieve the lost idol of Watusi that was stolen from him by Bomba, whom he classifieds as "The Jungle Devil." Flashbacks foretell what took place leading to the taking of the golden idol and hiding it in a safe place only known to Bomba. It is not known until later by Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) revealing to his friends, Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie), Eli (Smoki Whitfield) and their archeologist visitor, Karen Marsh (Anne Kimbell), to collect the golden idol for her museum in England, that the villainous Arab had abducted the Golden Idol from the native witch doctor friend of his in Tanganyika where he endured torture from Mamoud for its reward. In the meantime, Hawkins, accompanied by his own safari, schemes in capturing Bomba by befriending and taking him into his confidence. He gets his chance by rescuing Bomba from the claws of a villainous lion. After joining Bomba and his safari, Hawkins reveals his true character by holding Barnes, Eli and Karen hostage until Bomba is forced to reveal where the golden idol is hidden. Bomba, however, has ideas of his own. Supporting cast include Rick Vallin (Abdullah); Roy Glenn (Gomo); James Adamson (Ezekial), Don C. Harvey (Officer Graves) and William Tannen (Sergeant Reed). Bomba's pet chimpanzee, Nakimda, is also on board for both comedy relief and rescue purposes for those in need.

For a change of pace in the series, the female character assisting Bomba isn't a teenage girl accompanied by her father, but an older woman around in her twenties on an assigned mission. Another change in the series is having the close casting credits followed by the THE END title. Standard production with enough jungle chase scenes as a reminder to anyone who has seen THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (RKO, 1932) about a crazed man hunting man rather than animals as his prey. What a good Bomba adventure this would have been with similar story casting Bomba fighting for survival to keep from being killed by a fast shooting hunter. Paul Guilfoyle makes a fine advisory to Bomba as Professor Moriarty is to English sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. Some good action scenes though low-budget production values prevent this from becoming a top movie edition, but not enough to label this as its worst either.

Available on DVD, THE GOLDEN IDOL, which was formerly presented on commercial television in the 1960s and 70s, followed by Turner Network Television in 1992, can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies where it made its TCM premier March 3, 2012. Next installment: KILLER LEOPARD (1954) (**)

The Golden Idol has the youthful Bomba The Jungle Boy in pursuit of a The Golden Idol that the Watusi tribe worships. Perennial movie villain Paul Guilfoyle plays the evil Arab sheik who stole the idol and he and Johnny Sheffield as Bomba have some history between them.

Bomba is quite the jungle cop in his own way, throughout the twelve picture series always on the side of law and order which in this case is represented by Leonard Mudie as Commissioner Andy Barnes. Those tribes accepting British rule will always find a champion in Bomba.

Allowance has to be made as the Bomba series was for the juvenile trade, but watching them as watching the Tarzan you would never know about the forces of anti-colonialism that were spreading like wildfire across the continent. Three years after this film was released, the British Commonwealth cut loose by mutual consent the Gold Coast colony which became the nation of Ghana. In the next several years new nations came in abundance. The Tarzan films accommodated the new reality eventually, but the Bomba series ended before all that.

Anyway The Golden Idol shows a little wear and tear of the character as originality has left the series if it was ever there in the first place.

This was not the last Bomba movie (two more were made shortly thereafter), but it may be the weakest. The whole series, never terribly well made, was just running out of "spiz" by this time, and it shows.

Playing the villain is Paul Guilfoyle, a longtime Hollywood bad guy (who should not be confused with the current actor of the same name). His character is an evil Arab potentate making trouble in the jungle. Guilfoyle had played a similar role in "Bomba and the Hidden City," but he doesn't reprise that role here. Not exactly. He simply plays a similar character to allow for use of footage from the earlier film.

Those recycled scenes, coupled with familiar stock footage of wild animals, give this movie a particular air of cheapness. Many of the scenes are shot at night, with people dashing around amid the foliage. It's often hard to tell what, if anything, is going on.

And Bomba's jungle seems very small. He keeps coming back to the same places -- the same pond, the same clearing, the same rock formation. Does he really know his way around the primeval forest?

The story is much like those in other Bomba films: Bad guys mistreat the natives, shoot animals and menace a pretty American girl whose work has brought her to the jungle. In this case, the girl is an archaeologist looking for the "Golden Idol of Watusi."

Johnny Sheffield was well past his teens by this point, and his increasing maturity may have doomed the series anyway. At one point in "Golden Idol," someone refers to Bomba as a "jungle man" instead of a "jungle boy." But he still looks young and fit enough to be credible.

It's easy to make fun of Bomba movies, but not really fair. I have to admit that I enjoyed them myself as a boy. Their racial attitudes are outdated, but some far better films of the era were much more insensitive in that regard. All in all, these little jungle adventures are well-meaning, simplistic, good-versus-evil tales. Still, if you want to get acquainted with the character, an early Bomba movie would be a better place to start.