Leopardo Assassino

I expected far worse when I decided to watch a BOMBA episode, I mean a movie episode, because BOMBA, unlike JUNGLE JIM, was never adapted for the small screen. This story and acting are not as lousy as you could expect. I don't know exactly why, but there is something better, more serious, less lousy than usual in this poor man's TARZAN, in the line of JUNGLE JIM. The plot is closer to the first TARZAN films, in the thirties, than to the other jungle features of this period. Of course, it will remain a B picture, ambitionless, except entertain young audiences. I won't necessarily recommend it to you, but it's not a so bad film.

The penultimate Bomba movie starring Johnny Sheffield has our hero helping a movie star (Beverly Garland) trying to find her embezzler husband. But look out, Bomba, there's a killer leopard on the loose! At this point in the series it's becoming increasingly hard to care what Bomba is up to and why. Sheffield tries but it's all just so talky and dull, battle with the leopard notwithstanding. Pretty Beverly Garland is nice in this early role. Her in a bathing suit is one of the movie's only highlights. She would go on to much bigger things than most who guest-starred in this series. Regulars Smoki Whitfield and Leonard Mudie offer decent support. There's an unintentionally funny bit from actor Bill Walker as a native who, when we first meet him, is lying on the ground screaming "Bomba help!" in the most unconvincing manner possible. Picture the little old lady from the commercials shouting "I've fallen and I can't get up" and you'll get the idea.

Despite being jungle adventure films aimed mostly at kids, the Bomba series was more often than not pretty unexciting stuff. This is especially true of the later movies. This one drags even thought it's just 70 minutes long. The only real excitement comes from stock footage of animals and a fight scene between Bomba and a leopard that looks suspiciously like one from a previous Bomba movie. Fans will perhaps be amused by Bomba becoming involved with the marital problems between the movie star and her crook husband. Everybody else might want to find another to kill an hour.

"Killer Leopard" is a pretty forgettable movie. The only thing it has going for it is a dreamy Beverly Garland. Garland is a sight to behold. I couldn't take my eyes off her. The rest of the cast is fine. The weakest member is actually Bomba himself, Johnny Sheffield (with his too short bathing suit/loin cloth). But for me, this movie is all about Beverly Garland. I know I'll end up watching this movie again because of her.

This entry in the Bomba The Jungle Boy series has Johnny Sheffield with two problems. Movie star Beverly Garland has come to Africa trailing her worthless husband who has embezzled all kinds of money and the cops also want him. But Garland wants to make it right. But while she's out hunting him, there's a Killer Leopard on the lose and he's on the prowl for any and all concerned.

The husband is Donald Murphy and he's hired guide Barry Bernard to go into the interior to get some diamonds out for a little illegal smuggling. He really isn't interested in being Mr. Movie Star's husband any longer. Still Garland has a mission and she's got Bomba along for help.

Watching Garland and Murphy I was thinking of two show business marriages that of Fanny Brice and Nicky Arnstein and that of Doris Day and Marty Melcher. The writers could have been inspired by either or both of those.

Killer Leopard is an above average Bomba picture even though Sheffield is clearly getting too old to be a convincing jungle boy.

Killer Leopard (1954)

** (out of 4)

The eleventh and next to last in the series has American actress Linda Winters (Beverly Garland) traveling to Africa to locate her husband who skipped town after embezzling some money. She can't make her way through the jungle so Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) agrees to help her but he also must fight a deadly leopard that has been chewing on the locals. I guess you have to give writer-director Ford Beebe a little credit since he was able to pump out two Bomba films a year but at the same time I do wonder if he actually re-wrote each screenplay or if he just had a format that he would slightly change. In this eleventh film we get the story of the husband who is running off. We then have Bomba and the actress following them. We then have a third party following them. Throughout the 71-minute running time we bounce back and forth between the three stories, which does very little except add boring dialogue as they talk about things "they're going to do" yet the series, probably due to its low budget, was nothing but talk and very little action. This film here is at least mildly entertaining thanks to Garland who manages to turn in a good performance and her tight bathing suit isn't another plus. The funny thing is that there's this strange flirting going on between her married character and Bomba, which was certainly a first in the series and these scenes are without question the best. Garland and Sheffield actually have some nice chemistry together. The biggest problem is that everything else is deadly boring and lacks any real energy or passion. The highlight of the film is one of the funniest moments I've seen from any non-comedy. For some reason Garland decides to go swimming in a river when Bomba jumps in. He notices that on one side of the river there are some crocodiles and on the other a tiger, which means they're trapped. Then, Bomba notices a water buffalo and just the way this scene is mixed in with the stock footage is hilarious. It's too bad rest of the film didn't contain this level of camp but KILLER LEOPARD is certainly going to be just for Garland fans.