Bomba, vengeur de la jungle

SAFARI DRUMS (Allied Artists, 1953), Produced, Written and Directed by Ford Beebe, the first of four "Bomba" adventures under the new Allied Artists banner, following its previous eight installments for the then folded Monogram Studios, is an agreeable story helped somewhat by a better-than-average script. A far cry from the Johnny Weissmuller/ Tarzan adventures produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1930s, SAFARI DRUMS, in reference to drum beat code messages sent across the jungle, resumes John Sheffield, formerly Johnny Sheffield of Boy fame in the Weissmuller/Tarzan series, in leopard skin loincloth and spear weapon carrier, for another fun-filled 71 minute adventure for the Saturday matinée crowd, to predictable results.

Based on the Roy Rockwood character created in the "Bomba" books, the story, set in Africa, begins with a motion picture crew, headed by Larry Conrad (Emory Parnell), watching footage of animals captured on film by Steve (Paul Marion). Unhappy with such amateurish production, Conrad takes the suggestion of Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) to hire Bomba, the Jungle Boy (John Sheffield) to join their party and assist them in getting some authentic and realistic action shots. Bomba, living many miles away in a cave at the side of a volcano with his pet monkey, N'Kimba, hears the safari drum message asking him to assist the crew. Bomba's drum beat reply happens to be "No." Conrad, refusing to take no for an answer, decides to journey out and meet with Bomba. Accompanied by Brad Morton (Douglas Kennedy) and his secretary, Peggy Jethro (Barbara Bestar), the crew, headed by Eli (Smoki Whitfield), the crew journeys four days before encountering the the jungle boy, whose answer is still no, in spite of some pleading by the young and attractive Peggy. Only after receiving another drum message from Barnes that one of the members of the expedition robbed and killed his good friend, Stapleton, does Bomba agree to guide the crew long enough before the police, hired by Sergeant Collins (Russ Conway), to come make an arrest. The problem is, which one of the crew members is wanted for murder? And what's in the back of the truck that Bomba is not allowed to see?

With volcano eruptions and some frightful lion and tiger fights being common ground in the series, SAFARI DRUMS makes good use of murder mystery with a killer being among the production crew. As with the Tarzan of the movies, Bomba fears for his animals and doesn't trust outsiders invading his territory. His only human friends are Deputy Barnes and safari guide, Eli. Naturally Bomba encounters broken promises where one of the members shoots a lion against his wishes. And like The Lone Ranger, Bomba disappears before being thanked for his services. Other common factors found here as with others in the "Bomba" series is the extensive use of animal footage obviously from newsreels inserted into the story, and Bomba's pet monkey for comedy relief, but not as extensive as Tarzan's very own Cheta.

Not quite as legendary as Tarzan, the Bomba series did have television exposure in the sixties and seventies on commercial television before turning up on cable television, only in recent years from Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 28, 2012). Next installment: THE GOLDEN IDOL (1954). (**1/2)

Johnny Sheffield, Bomba the Jungle Boy, faces off with a dangerous jungle guide, which he takes on with the help of his jungle animal friends. As with most all the Bomba films, there's a ridiculously small budgets, lots of stock footage, and some embarrassingly bad looking backlot jungles. Stick with the early Weissmuller Tarzan films if you need a black and white jungle adventure fix.

Safari Drums (1953)

** (out of 4)

Number nine in the Monogram series has Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) once again in the jungle minding his own business when some movie people show up to film some animals. Bomba gets involved when it turns out that one of them murdered a man and the jungle boy must also be sure that the men don't try to harm any of his animal friends. By this time in the series there's no question that they were running out of fresh ideas and the films were becoming quite a hard chore to sit through. Thankfully this entry is a step up from the previous ones and I'd argue that the final ten-minutes here are the best moments in the series to date. With that said, the typical issues are still here including the ultra low-budget that really doesn't allow the filmmakers to do too much. As usual, there are way too many scenes where nothing is going on other than cast members standing around talking about stuff that really doesn't add up to anything. These dialogue scenes might work if they were actually saying something interesting but rarely does anything you care about come from their mouths. Another problem is of course the stock footage but at times this can add some campy charm. As with the previous films, Sheffield is at least entertaining in the part and you can tell he's giving it his all even though he probably shouldn't be. Barbara Bestar plays the love interest here and the supporting cast includes Emory Parnell, Douglas Kennedy and Paul Marion. I won't spoil who the killer is but the actor makes for a good villain. The final ten-minutes has more action than any of the previous movie put together. This includes a sequence where the filmmakers (in the movie) get a tiger and lion to fight a rather violent battle, which might offend some. There's also the action/chase sequence with Bomba that contains some nice drama. SAFARI DRUMS isn't a classic and it's not even a good movie but for a Bomba movie it's certainly not bad.

Bomba the Jungle Boy smells a rat when a rifle-happy team of filmmakers invades the African jungle to shoot a moving picture--and, Bomba fears, to shoot innocent wildlife as well. Turns out one member of the nefarious troupe has robbed a local guide of his diamonds and killed him, so a drum warning is played for Bomba to keep the unit preoccupied until the police arrive. Thoroughly routine low-budget adventure, the first "Bomba" episode to bear the Allied Artists distribution logo, is sluggishly-paced, with much of the action taking place via stock footage. Johnny Sheffield's Bomba wrestles (clumsily) with a panther and a lion, while the requisite 'pretty girl' (Barbara Bestar) wrestles with the hokey dialogue. *1/2 from ****

Filmmakers are in Africa to film wildlife. Wealthy benefactor Larry Conrad doesn't want the regular travelogue. He wants something special and unique for his private collection. He wants the life and death struggle in the wild. Deputy Commissioner Barnes suggests contacting Bomba (Johnny Sheffield). A message is sent through the network of Safari Drums, but the reply comes back no. Conrad insists and directs the group to find Bomba. A volcano erupts and Bomba comes to their aid. Bomba insists that they do not kill animals just to film them. Conrad is unwilling to obey.

This is the ninth of the 12 movie in the series. Bomba is basically a copycat Tarzan. I actually like Sheffield. There is a lot of animal footage. This film could have been good if it does what Conrad wants his movie to be. The animal footage is the most compelling parts of the movie. Bomba should just leave them as soon as Safari Conrad shoots that lion. The story gets messier from that point onwards. Those stuff is much less compelling.