Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)

Simply Perfect

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

With Tarzan behind him, Johnny Sheffield moved over to Poverty Row where he would star in his own series for Monogram. Bomba the Jungle Boy is pretty much just Boy from the Tarzan movies grown up. Although I'm not exactly sure how grown up he's supposed to be as he looks like an adult (Sheffield was 18 at the time) but is treated like a young teen by other characters throughout the series. The movies are all juvenile jungle adventure tales with lots of stock footage. They are nowhere near as good as the Weissmuller Tarzan movies but, if you're a fan of those, these will at least keep your attention. Johnny Sheffield made twelve of them before retiring from movies altogether. This first entry in the series has a renowned photographer (Onslow Stevens) and his daughter (Peggy Ann Garner) coming to Africa to take some pictures of wildlife. The daughter gets lost and is rescued by Bomba, a white boy raised in the wild by a misanthropic naturalist. Most of the movie is about the girl trying to get Bomba to lead her back to her father. But Bomba is wary of outsiders and doesn't trust that her father won't try to hurt him.Sheffield is fine in the role of Bomba, which is hardly challenging. Garner, who was an exceptional child actor (see Jane Eyre for proof) is better than this sort of thing but such was the state of her career as she grew up. She spends most of the movie in a short leopard-print dress looking very cute. Charles Irwin, sounding positively like Scrooge McDuck, plays a character whose primary function in the movie is to argue with the girl's insufferable father, played by Onslow Stevens. Garner and Sheffield are delightful together and their scenes are the highlights of the movie. It's too bad Garner couldn't have stayed with the series. It might have helped if Bomba had a Jane and nobody would've minded killing off her father. I was kind of expecting him to die given how unlikable he was.There are some fun moments with monkeys and an amusing scene where the native guide explains the difference between native footprints and those of a white man. The use of stock footage is excessive but what really drags the movie down are the repetitive scenes of Stevens and Irwin. The movie basically breaks down like this: cute scene with Sheffield and Garner then back to Irwin telling Stevens he won't allow him to do something but Stevens does it anyway then back to Sheffield & Garner. Rinse, lather, repeat. It gets on your nerves after awhile.

FOLLOWING THE ABRUPT ending of his run as Boy in the MGM and Sol Lesser-RKO Series of Tarzan Pictures, young Johnny Sheffield swung, not to a new career path, but to the next tree in the vast Hollywood Backlot "Jungle". Beginning a new role as the title character in BOMBA,THE JUNGLE BOY (Monogram, 1949).* THE COMBINATION OF good looks, a fine athletic physique and all of the previously generated publicity from all of those Tarzan movies, all joined together to make him perfect for the Bomba movies. The quite accidental combination of factors made for an ideal package of characteristics, both on screen and in the promotions department of Monogram.AS FOR THE above mentioned Monogram Studios, it was a mark of a great step down from the Tarzans at MGM and RKO. Monogram (which was increasingly using its newly formulated moniker of Allied Artists)was truly a resident of what is known as "Poverty Row" in Hollywood. It was not only a member of this dubious fraternity, but it could well be said to be the preeminent low budget company.** AS ONE WOULD suspect, BOMBA, THE JUNGLE BOY, being a cheapie production, makes plenty of use of stock footage, back lot scrub woods (with the occasional placement of potted palm trees, dwarf banana trees and lush plantings of the Castor Bean plant***)and black men as extras; portraying safari porters.THE STORYLINE, ALTHOUGH admittedly somewhat thinner than most "A" Picture Jungle Epics, is adequate and told in a straight forward manner. however, regardless of narrative method, whether or not that it would spawn a sequel and a series, would rely on Box Office $ucce$$ with the Saturday Afternoon Matinée crowd. Needless to say, the combination of frugality and comic book-like appeal to the juvenile market equaled an A-OK for a series.WE HAVE ALREADY dealt with Johnny Sheffield's casting; which can only be classified as a proverbial no brainer. Hence, we won't discuss him any more.IN THE CAST we have the presence of Onslow Stevens, who anchors an otherwise nondescript company of supporting players. Mr. Stevens' characterization represents the intrusion of the Modern, Western Civilization into the wilds of the Dark Continent. Alrhough it is obvious that it is much more technologically advanced, it's no match for Nature and the primitives who inhabit its savannas, jungles and rain forests.THE INCLUSION OF Peggy Anns Garner is both a plus and a sort of a shock; for just a few years earlier she was praised for her portrayal in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Working a Monogram would seem to indicate some degree of slipping to her career.SHE DOES, HOWEVER, make for a most lovely "Jungle Girl" and female interest as a potential love interest for the virginal Bomba. The two together make for a truly sensual and even sexy pair; particularly while stretched out and resting during the trek through the wilds.NOTE: * BOMBA is just one of many Tarzan knock-offs (and most successful one)that had appeared over the years and were adapted to the screen. Starting with KING OF THE JUNGLE (Paramount, 1933) with Buster Crabbe as 'Kaspa the Lion Man', Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett) as Kioga (a sort of Temperate Zone Tarzan), HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS (Republic, 1938) and KING OF THE CONGO (Columbia, 1952) with Buster Crabbe as 'Thunda', are all fine examples. In the World of the Comics Magazines, we also had Kazar: whose origin was in Pulp Magazines of the same publisher of Timley/Atlas/Maevel Comics. Congo Bill, long time back-up feature in DC Comics' Action Comics (and adaptation to the serial, CONGO BILL (Columbia, 1948), later acquired a Tarzan-like protégé in one Janu the Jungle Boy. Neither Kazar nor Janu ever got to the point of having any celluloid counterpart. NOTE ** Along with Monogram, Poverty Row members included Republic, PRC (Producers' Releasing Corporation), American International, Grand National, Lippert and Columbia; which graduated to the upper echelon very early in the game.NOTE: *** The Castor Bean is a commonly grown garden flower plant. It is tall with red stems and exotic & tropical looking foliage. The seeds of the annual are poisonous to humans.

Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949) ** (out of 4) When MGM decided to take their Tarzan series into a different direction, Johnny Weissmuller headed to Columbia to start the Jungle Jim series while his son, Boy, went to Monogram and began production on another Tarzan rip- off, Bomba, which would end up running for twelve films. The series opener has Pat Harland (Peggy Ann Garner) and her father (Onslow Stevens) are in Africa trying to take photos of some rare animals when she ends up in the jungle lost. Soon Bomba (Sheffield) shows up to show her some of the finer, less appreciated things in life. There's no question that this series should have been called TARZAN, JR. and there's no question that what brain cells the MGM series had are pretty much gone here. This isn't a horrible movie but at the same time it's doubtful too many are going to find it completely entertaining and this is due to several factors. One is that the screenplay really doesn't offer us anything new, original or really all that entertaining. I thought for the most part we got one boring sequence after another and in fact it takes nearly thirty-minutes before Bomba shows up, another ten-minutes for any sort of action and it takes yet another fifteen-minutes before Garner finally gets into her leopard-skinned outfit. As with the Tarzan films and the countless other rips, this film gets the benefit of many stock footage shots of the wildlife in Africa. We get to see a wide range of animals but it's obvious the footage was shot for other movies as it looks quite poor and even for stock footage the stuff isn't that good because the shots are so far away from the target and out of focus that at times you struggle to even tell what you're looking at. For some reason the film is pretty light on action as there are only a few fight sequences and even these are pretty tame. The first time Bomba fights a fake leopard it all happens off camera. The one saving grace to the film are the performances. Sheffield does a nice job playing the lead character and Garner adds up some nice support. The two feature some nice chemistry together and fans of HOUSE OF Dracula will enjoy seeing Stevens in his part. At just 70-minutes the movie goes by at a decent pace but it's just too bad they didn't try something fresh or original to throw a little life into the picture.

If I am not mistaken I watched this movie in 1951 and I was just an 11 year old, and my memory fades somewhat on detail of the Film. Keep in mind, my memories of this film was from a childs viewpoint, but the best that I remember, I really enjoyed it, in particular the animals, and lot & lots of action. Bomba was just a few years older than myself and I really related to him and his escapades. I would like to see it once more as an adult, but I really don't know if any videos/dvds' are available. Thank you for reading my comments.