Lord of the Jungle

Johnny Sheffield finished both the Bomba The Jungle Boy series and his career with Lord Of The Jungle. In this one the Bomba series takes a plot that could have been one from the Tarzan series where back in his adolescence Sheffield had been Boy.

Like Tarzan, Bomba has an affinity for pachyderms. But the local herd has been running wild lately, trampling through villages, destroying property and killing people. Most atypical behavior for elephants who are herbivores and won't attack people unless they're attacked.

In a story that could also have been taken from any number of westerns about a wild horse herd, Bomba suspects that a rogue has taken over the lead of the herd. No reason to kill all of his friends if the rogue is done in. But how to do it?

I would suspect the Bomba series ended for a number of reasons. The writers were not coming up with fresh story lines as witness by this retreaded western. B picture stuff like the Bomba series was showing up on television. Finally Johnny Sheffield was clearly no longer juvenile looking enough to be a jungle boy. So Sheffield quit acting and apparently lived happily ever after.

Nothing special about Lord Of The Jungle, decent viewing though.

Lord of the Jungle (1955)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The twelfth and final film in the series was clearly showing that the thing was out of gas and needed to be stopped. This time out Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) has to deal with a bunch of hunters out to kill a group of elephants who are stampeding villages and killing people. Bomba believes that if you kill the rouge leader that the rest will return to being good but will he have time to save them? Issues with elephants have been rampant through this series as well as other jungle adventures like Tarzan. Something I've noticed in this series is that quite often Bomba is on the fence about being a jerk at times and fighting for things that just make him look silly. I think that line is crossed here because he really does come off as a jerk and while he continues to fight for the elephants more people die yet he's still only interested in the elephants. Perhaps had the writing been stronger the character could have been filled out some more but writing and Bomba never really went together. At just 69-minutes this film goes along quite slowly and as usual we're treated to some silly stock footage, rear-projection shots and of course endless scenes of dialogue with people talking about what they're going to do. This all grows very tiresome in this entry and it turns out that the last was also one of the worst. You'd think with so many elephants that you could come up with something better but I'm going to guess that everyone knew this was it so not too much effort went into it. Sheffield fits the role nicely, as usual, but even he seems to be lacking some energy. Wayne Morris makes for a good heavy but he's actually not in the film too much. Nancy Hale plays the love interest but her character is really underwritten. LORD OF THE JUNGLE will only need to be viewed by those, like me, who enjoy watching every movie in a series no matter how poor they are. Now with all twelve Bomba films viewed, this series certainly wasn't high art but Sheffield was good.

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

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!"

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.