Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952)

How sad is this?

A lot of fun.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This could be called the origin of Bomba (Johnny Sheffield). As such, the story is more interesting than usual. Presently, in picturesque Africa, the jungle boy watches different animals with their children. Bomba is sad because every animal in the jungle has father and mother but him. This leads Bomba on a journey of self-discovery. We will finally see the fate of Bomba's parents, John and Laura Hastings. An entertaining "native" Suzette Harbin (as Baru) plays a large part. She's silly, but fun to watch. The pretty girl role is filled exceptionally well by Karen Sharpe (as Linda Ward). Of course, she has a swimming scene. Cast wisely, Ms. Sharpe beautifully fills her one-piece bathing suit. Also lifting this entry is a nicely edited fire sequence. The smoke, controlled background fires and added foreground effects are quite effective. Some acting rehearsals and flashback scenes might have improved this story, along with a more appropriate title.***** Bomba and the Jungle Girl (12/7/52) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Karen Sharpe, Walter Sande, Suzette Harbin

Bomba feels bad about being an orphan so he decides to find out who his parents are and what happened to them. The trail leads him to a village ruled by a corrupt chief and his ruthless daughter. Needless to say, the two don't like Bomba poking around and asking questions. This is a nice change of pace plot for the series, which usually had the standard 'evil white men come to the jungle to kill or steal and Bomba must stop them' formula. It only took seven sequels for them to think about following up on this plot thread from the first movie but I'm glad they finally did.The Bomba series had its fair share of pretty ladies and here we have two. Karen Sharpe is the daughter of a government official and Suzette Harbin is the daughter of the village chief. I'm not sure which girl is the jungle girl of the title. I mean, Harbin is the only one of the two who actually lives in the jungle but Sharpe is the heroine. Neither is a 'jungle girl' in the same sense that Bomba is a 'jungle boy.' Both are attractive and well-written for young female roles at the time. When Bomba swims out to rescue her from a crocodile, Sharpe takes matters into her own hands and swims to shore, gets a gun, and kills the croc herself! Harbin is her father's right-hand and heir to the throne. She's in charge of the village guard and killing her father's enemies. It's one of the best Bomba movies, which isn't saying a whole lot I know. It's a juvenile adventure movie with a little more plot than most in the series and some strong female characters which deserves mentioning. The movie makes use of stock footage, as it always did. Maybe a little less than usual, though. There are some humorous moments with the chimps that I enjoyed. It does go on too long, as most of the Bomba sequels did for some reason. Nothing you can't live without seeing but a good way to pass the time if you're so inclined.

Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952) * 1/2 (out of 4) The eighth film in Monogram's series once again has Johnny Sheffield playing Bomba, the jungle boy who in this adventure meets a jungle girl (Karen Sharpe) and the two try to figure out who his parents were. With the help of a partial diary, the two set out to learn the truth yet you know there are going to be complications. Having been watching the Bomba series in the order that they were made, I have no idea what the last four films will hold but there's no question that it appears everyone involved were running out of ideas. There's really not too much to say about this film that I haven't said about previous entries. This one here features a pretty boring story where not much happens except that our hero has a new female lead and we get countless scenes where they talk about things that they're going to do. Every ten minutes or so we get an action scene that is full of silly gunshots and every once in a while we get stock footage to go with it. The start of the film has our female swimming in a river for no reason other than a crocodile to show up and she of course will need Bomba to save her. I think the croc used here is different than the previous couple films as was the stock footage showing the real one. The story itself is pretty bland because after the first few minutes you realize that you really don't care what happened to Bomba's parents and your only main goal is getting through all the madness.

****SPOILERS*** Reaching the age of 21 and now being qualified to vote smoke and drink Bomba, Johnny Sheffield, realizes that unlike his animal friends in the jungle he doesn't have a mommy or papa since he was abandoned by them when he was three years old. Going on a journey of self discovery to find out just who he is and whom his parents were Bomba runs into Linda Ward,Karen Sharpe. It's Linda whom he saved from a crocodile attack while she was taking a swim in the Congo River. As things tune out Linda's pop Mr.Ward,Walter Sande, who's a good friend of Bomba also happens to work for the local British Commissioner in the district Andy Burns, Mudie Barnes.It's from Andy that Bomba gets a clue to who his parents were in that they were in fact murdered by the local natives in the area. As it soon turned out it was the local Chief Gambosa, Martin Wilkins,and his power hungry daughter Princess Baru,Suzette Habrin,who were not only responsible for Bomba's parents murders but were also involved in the murder of the real chief of the village whom Bomba's parents were very friendly with. Chief Gombosa who took control of the village had Bomba's nanny Linasi, Amanda Randolph, who's husband was the true village chief blinded to keep the villagers in line and from rioting against him. It's now up to Bomba and his new found girl friend Linda to track down where is parents are buried and find the evidence in his father John Hasting's diary to prove once in for all who's the real chief of the village! Which just happens to be Linasi's son Kokoli, Morris Buchanan, who's secretly working behind the scenes with Bomba to bring his father's killers to justice!With the phony village chief Gambosa and his daughter Princess Baru finding out that Bomba was on to them and their phony act as chief and princess of the native village they pull out all stops to shut him up and shut him up permanently. Bomba for his part has the British Commissioner Andy Bearns in his corner but with Gambosa getting the jump on him it may well be too late for Andy,in being miles away from all the action, to do anything for him. ***SPOILERS*** Bomba together with Linda finally track down the cave where his parents are buried as well as get his hands on his father's diary that proves that Gabosa and daughter are fakes. The only problem for Bomba is that it may be too late for him to get that evidence back to the village and the local British Commissioner Barnes with the determined Princess Baru and a bunch of her henchmen about to set the entire jungle on fire! And thus burn to a crisps not only the incriminating evidence against her and her pop Chief Gambosa but Bomba and Linda along with it!