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An Exercise In Nonsense

Blistering performances.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I guess it's a toss up as to who's the 'Jungle Girl' of the title. You have Linda Ward (Karen Sharpe), daughter of a government inspector, and Baru (Suzette Harbin), the daughter of a tribal chief, who it turns out acquired his status by nefarious means. Ultimately it doesn't make much difference because the story is a rather haphazard affair, as hero Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) attempts to learn about his origins and why he's the only jungle inhabitant that can't lay claim to a mother and father.This is only the second 'Bomba' film I've seen but I've already noted that just like Tarzan and Jungle Jim, Bomba can get involved with the deadliest of animal foes and come away without a scratch. In this one he wrestles a crocodile out to make dinner of Linda Ward, but it's actually the young lady who turns things around by shooting the croc. I thought I recognized Nancy Sharpe in her role here, turns out she portrayed the character Laura Thomas in the single season TV Western "Johnny Ringo" during the 1959/1960 season. Oh yeah, someone actually watched that show on a regular basis.As I keep tabs on these jungle features I'm always keen on catching wild animals outside their natural element. That leopard that fought off the water buffalo was actually a South American jaguar as you can note by the small rosettes inside the larger spots. How he got to Africa is anyone's guess.Well high above the Jeruti village, Bomba finds what he's looking for. The remains of his murdered parents were buried in a cave, killed on orders of Gamboso (Martin Wilkins), the village chief. The jungle lad didn't have much time to think about it as the wicked daughter Baru set the jungle on fire as a way to fend off the Wards and approaching Commissioner Barnes. The film may have one significant but dubious credit in as much as it features what might be the very first cat fight between a black and a white woman as Baru tussles with young Linda Ward. After it was over, did anyone else think it strange that when Baru walked out of the cave, you hear her scream off screen and that's it - she's gone! I guess Linda was the jungle girl after all.

BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL (Monogram, 1952), written and directed by Ford Beebe, based upon the character by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" Books, stars Johnny Sheffield in the title role in the eighth installment of this "second feature" adventure series. While title leaves impression of Bomba meeting a displaced jungle girl, helping her find her family by assisting her through long journey and adventure before reaching some obscure village, no such thing occurs. A somewhat misleading title actually revolves more on the displaced jungle boy wanting to know more about himself and whom his people are. The story gets underway as Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) observes the animals around him. He thinks to himself, "Every animal in the jungle has a mother and father but me. I don't even know who I am." This sets the pattern of what's to come. Bomba finds a book inside a cave that could lead to his true identity. By taking it over to his friend, Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) for translation, it is revealed the book to be a diary written by Cody Casson, a man now deceased, who found and raised Bomba when he was three. It is learned that Bomba's parents are John and Laura Hastings (possibly Hawkins), and that his father was a mapmaker living among the native tribe. Since Bomba, who likes the surname of "Hastings" best, wants to know more about his family, he decides to travel to the village where it all began many years ago. Along the way Bomba sees and rescues Linda Ward (Karen Sharpe) from an crocodile attack, who in turn shoots the crocodile as Bomba gets overpowered by it. Through a twist of fate, Bomba finds that Linda's father, Lawrence (Walter Sande) is a government agent inspecting living conditions of that same tribal village where he's headed. During his quest for information, Bomba discovers his parents were murdered, and intends on finding out who's responsible. To prevent Bomba from learning the truth from Linasi (Amanda Randolph), a blind woman who was once his native nurse, Gamboso (Martin Wilkins), the tribal leader, and Boru (Suzette Harbin), his daughter, arrange to have the woman killed by a poisoned dart from a blow gun, and placing Bomba under arrest for her murder. Set free by Linda, Bomba later makes every effort to save father and daughter from whatever danger lies ahead, at the same time, getting to the main source to his family mystery without getting himself targeted by death.Based on the plot summary, there's no jungle girl, unless one counts the Linda character, who's never seen in jungle clothes. As much as BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL is often dismissed as one of the lesser entries, it is, in fact, a satisfactory one. Contrary, the summary used in this edition is one that would have served best for the first in the series, BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY (1949) rather than the plot used, consisting more time on the supporting safari players and hardly anything on Bomba's origin and how he came to be a lone jungle boy with a sphere. By this time, Ford Beebe, who scripted the entire "Bomba" adventures, slightly broke away from traditional "Bomba" stories by setting the pattern more towards Bomba's unknown heritage. By doing this, he adds further excitement placing Bomba's life in peril. Playing more like a murder mystery set in the jungle, it gets by on the material and limited production values it has. Below average acting from newcomer Karen Sharpe, along with a not-so-convincing demise of one of the villains, can be contributed towards the film's weakness, but overall, a passable 72 minutes. Others members of the cast include Morris Buchanan in notable support as Kokoli, a native who risks his life assisting Bomba; Don Blackman, Bruce Carruther, Roy Glenn, and Bomba's pet monkey, N'Kimba, doing what Cheta of the "Tarzan" movie series did best, attracting whatever attention in the "comedy relief" department.Being the last "Bomba" adventure produced by Monogram, in fact, the last Monogram film ever release, the duration of the "Bomba" series (1949-1955) were distributed by Allied Artists. Unseen on cable television since Turner Network Television's broadcast in 1992 and 1993, BOMBA AND THE JUNGLE GIRL has joined forces, along with other "Bomba" adventures, as worthy presentations on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere January 21, 2012). Next in the series: SAFARI DRUMS (1953). (**)

Writer-director Ford Beebe surprisingly didn't lose steam helming this, the eighth picture in Monogram's "Bomba" serial; rather, Beebe comes through with one of his meatiest scripts for the low-budget franchise, allowing Bomba to have normal thoughts, questions and emotions about his own history. It's springtime in the Congo, with Bomba taking notice of the circle of life happening all around him, yet feeling saddened by his own lack of family. After saving the daughter of a government agent from an alligator attack, Bomba learns his parents were killed many years ago and that a native nurse (presumed dead as well) knew the secret behind their mysterious fate. Like the previous "Bomba" movies, this installment's charm is of a strictly modest variety--only nostalgic grown-ups need apply--however, the film's villainess (the daughter of a phony village chief) is amusingly intimidating, and Johnny Sheffield's Bomba thinks clearly and acts cleverly. The production is predictably crude, though the stock footage is kept to a minimum and the dialogue (strong this time) carries the plot ably without being chopped up into staccato bits and pieces. **1/2 from ****

This little feature is not better or worse than the other Bomba movies. I think they were made for sunny - or rainy - Sunday afternoons. All directed by Ford Beebe, they are all the same. When you have seen one, you have seen all of them. But they are not charmless. I won't explain the topic of this one, it is already exposed in the tag line. I only write this comment because this film has not been commented yet. That's all. If you watch all Bomba features in a row, you'll forget this one. For sure. I recommend to see the Bomba films one each week. That's the best to appreciate them.