Killer Leopard (1954)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

KILLER LEOPARD (Allied Artists, 1954), produced and written by Ford Beebe, who also directed along with Edward Morey Jr., is the eleventh entry to the "Bomba" jungle adventures starring non-other than Johnny Sheffield. With the character created by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" books, this is the sort of material geared mostly for its juvenile Saturday matinee audiences. The movie itself sets its title character of the killer leopard as background material with more focus and extended scenes on its safari and a woman searching for her husband. The wife in question is played by the young Beverly Garland, best known for her television roles, mainly that as Barbara in the final three seasons (1969-1972) to the long-running sit-com, "My Three Sons" (1960-1972) starring Fred MacMurray. As much as Garland worked mostly on television dating back to the 1950s, she was a movie actress as well, something very few have realized in later years when she became a familiar television personality decades later.Opening title: "On the fringe of the African jungle - Laghaso - a crossroads for adventures from the four corners of the continent." Linda Winters (Beverly Garland), is introduced as an American movie actress having come 8,000 miles to Africa searching for her missing husband, Fred (Donald Murphy), a former bookkeeper. She traces him down to the Café of the Three Dragons where he, earlier, had made arrangements with Charlie Pulham (Barry Bernard), to act as his guide to lead him to Sheridan's Compound to track down a batch of uncut diamonds to make him rich. The following morning finds Bomba, the jungle boy (Johnny Sheffield) riding his elephant. He then helps Jonas (Bill Walker), a native man just attacked by a dangerous killer leopard. Taking Jonas to the home cottage of his good friend, Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) to attend to his wounds, Bomba soon meets with Linda at his front door where she comes for further assistance. Bomba offers to track down her husband alone to Belden's Landing while she and Eli (Smoki Whitfield) travel through the jungle by jeep. Bomba finds the camp where Winters is staying to give him the news about his wife, but is told he wants nothing to do with her. Bomba runs back to tell Linda the news, only to spare her feelings by his blunt message. He agrees to guide Linda to the place where Winters is staying, but upon their arrival, they find Winters and his guide have moved on after their raft was cast adrift. As they journey further, all get themselves involved in individual segments with the killer leopard on their trail. Further danger soon awaits after Pulham leads Winters to Saunders (Harry Cording) a diamond smuggler, and his tough assistants.A standard jungle adventure Bomba style, featuring typical stock footage of Bomba's animal friends. The killer leopard gets his share of several extreme close-ups as a reminder that this dangerous animal should not be overlooked in favor of the extended story involving both safari and jungle boy's guidance and assistance to the visiting characters. Highlights include Bomba and Linda swimming in the river, to find crocodiles resting on the surface on one side, and leopard and dangerous water buffalo on the other; and Bomba's one-on-one encounter with the killer leopard, but no threat to Johnny Weissmuller's similar nature in his earlier "Tarzan" series. Naturally there is betrayal amongst the greedy hunters to stir up some excitement. There's also in the cast including Russ Conway (Sergeant Maitland); and Rory Mallison (Officer Deevers), men of the law also searching for Fred Winters involving his crisis back in the states; Roy Glenn (Jonas); Milton Wood (Conji); and Martin Wilkins (Gambi). With Beverly Garland working more alongside Sheffield's Bomba, there are moments seen in her eyes where she seems more romantically interested in him than in her husband search. At 70 minutes, KILLER LEOPARD reaches its level agreeably to its point of interest.Commonly presented on broadcast television dating back to the 1960s, notably a decade later on New York City's WOR, Channel 9's during its weekly Saturday morning "Jungle Adventure" series (1977-1979), this, and other "Bomba" adventures can be seen on cable television's Turner Classic Movies, where it premiered March 10, 2013. Next and last in the series: LORD OF THE JUNGLE (1955). (**)

***SPOILERS*** Bomba, Johnny Sheffield, the jungle boy now at age 23 is getting a bit too big for his kid or juvenile size loincloth gets involved with illegal diamond smuggling as well as a killer black leopard who's attacking and eating the local native population. It's Fred Winters, Donald Murphy,the abused husband, in him always being in his wife's shadow, of big time Hollywood actress Linda Winters,Beverly Garland,who decided to make it on his own by embezzling his wife's employer, Allied Artists, of $20,000.00. Not satisfied with the 20 grand Fred is now looking to buy diamonds off African diamond mine supernatant Saunders, Harry Cordine, at cut rate prices, since such a transaction is illegal, and at least double his money!It's Linda herself who travels to darkest Africa to get Fred to turn himself into the police where he'll end up only getting a slap on the wrists in that she paid out of her own pocket the 20 G's that he stole. Shocked that his old lady Linda bails him out as well as his crime being discovered so soon Fred in what seems to be a fit of madness still decides to go on foot with his American guide Charlie Pulham, Barry Bernard, to the far off diamond mines and buy the diamonds off Supt.Saunders! Even if it means he'll end up behind bars for doing it! While all this is going on Bomba is recruited by Linda to track down her husband and knock some sense into his head before he ends up getting himself killed: By either his partners in crime Supt. Saunders and his greedy and double crossing guide Charlie Pulham or the on the loose and hungry for human flesh killer leopard! It's the killer leopard that in fact makes the movie interesting in that he doesn't need to read and remember the ridicules script in the movie. In that his acting is purely natural, and mostly in stock footage, in that all he has to do is just be himself and not have to put on an embarrassing act,like Bomba Linda & Fred,at all!***SPOLIERS*** Bomba in first finding Fred is now confronted with the killer leopard in who's hideout, a hidden cave, Charlie Pulham's body was hidden in by his killer Supt. Saunders. Charlie like Fred got a bit too greedy in wanting more of a cut, from the illegal diamonds, from Saunders that the two agreed upon and ended up paying for it with his life. Bomba in a stock footage scene from an earlier Bomba movie, "Bomba on Panther Island", dispatched the killer leopard and ends up swinging through the jungle as the movie finally ends.P.S Check out actor Charles Stevens as bar owner Tony Gonzales who tipped off Linda to where her cheating husband Fred is. Stevens just happens to be the grandson of the famous and notorious Apache chief Gernoimo himself!

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.

The Killer Leopard is one of the later Bomba movies Johnny Sheffield appeared in. He was in his twenties when he starred in this.In this one he helps a movie star, played by Beverley Garland (It Conquered the World), to look for her husband in the jungle. He is on the run after committing several crimes in Britain. The search though is hampered by a rather unfriendly black leopard which seems to enjoy killing people. Bomba does kill it at the end though and the movie star successfully finds her husband, after some of his party are killed.I was lucky to obtain a copy of this movie as it is quite rare to get hold of, as are all of the Bomba movies.Watch this if you get the chance. I quite enjoyed it.Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.