The Golden Idol

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.

Prince Ali hires great white hunter Joe Hawkins to track down the Golden Idol of the Watusi. They are following Bomba who has hidden the Idol. Commissioner Barnes has brought archeologist Karen Marsh who is searching for the Idol. Bomba agrees to sell the Idol to them for the tribe.

It's a Tarzan copy called Bomba, the Jungle Boy series. It's part of the jungle exploitation films and getting late in this franchise. It's strictly B-movie material shot in Hollywood. At least, it's work for a lot of black actors. Bomba has his leopard loin cloth. I have issues with the plot but it somewhat works. The torture is very suggestive and scary. This would probably work as a shorter serial. Even at around 70 minutes, it drags in the second half.

After Bomba retrieves a stolen idol from Prince Ali, the prince hires a ruthless hunter to get it back for him. The hunter's no fan of Bomba's to begin with because Bomba has been freeing animals from his traps. Another Bomba movie starring Johnny Sheffield. As with so many of these, it's very talky and slow despite being a jungle adventure picture aimed at kids with short attention spans. There is a little bit of action but it's pretty standard stuff the series has done before and better. Regulars Leonard Mudie and Smoki Whitfield offer solid support. Anne Kimbell is the requisite pretty guest-star. She dons a bathing suit for a cute swimming scene; easily the highlight of the movie. Scenes from "Bomba and the Hidden City" are used as flashback footage in this, due to Paul Guilfoyle playing the bad guy in both. But the characters he played in the two movies are not the same. There's also the standard use of rear projection effects and stock footage that I've come to expect from a Bomba movie after having seen so many. There's very little to recommend here unless you're a huge Sheffield fan.

A nasty Arab prince is in Africa, looking to retrieve "The Golden Idol" of Watusi. In flashback, we see Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) took the small statue from dastardly Paul Guilfoyle (as Ali Ben Mamoud), who stole it statue from the Watusi people. The "Bomba" film series was nearing its end with this substandard episode. The edited-in segments involving lions look especially cheap, but the entire production is amateurish. There are only a few highlights, if you're inclined to watch; they are shot at the swimming hole and involve some underwater photography. The pretty guest female figure, blonde Anne Kimbell (as Karen Marsh), goes for a swim with Bomba. She wears a modest, one-piece black bathing suit. Bomba wears his immodest loincloth and excels in a solo swim near the end, when he shows where "The Golden Idol" is hidden.

*** The Golden Idol (1954-01-10) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Paul Guilfoyle, Anne Kimbell, Leonard Mudie

The Golden Idol (1954)

** (out of 4)

Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) is back in action and this time he's trying to bring down the evil Prince Ali Ben Mamoud (Paul Guilfoyle) who is starting trouble in the jungle after trying to steal a valuable golden idol, which is very important to some natives who just happen to worship the piece. THE GOLDEN IDOL was the tenth film in the Monogram series and it's clear that it's far from a masterpiece but in terms of this series it's not too bad. However, that's really not saying too much as there really weren't any good films in this series. This one here at least has a couple fun performances but as with the previous films, way too much time is spent on silly stock footage and boring dialogue sequences that just keep going on and on. On the plus side you once again have Sheffield back in the lead role and it's clear that he was given a lot more effort than this thing deserved. He's quite good in the part but one wishes they had given him a better writer. I also thought Guilfoyle was good in his part and actually made for a very good villain. He played a similar role in a previous film and sure enough was the best thing in that. The rest of the supporting players are serviceable in their parts. Most of the action is the typical gunshots, tribes men running around type of stuff and none of it is overly exciting. At 71-minutes the film does drag in spots but this is the tenth movie so that's to be expected.