Watch Bomba, the Jungle Boy For Free

Touches You

Too much of everything

Fantastic!

Better Late Then Never

For somebody living topless in the African jungle, Johnny Sheffield is pretty pale. This curly haired young man is certainly no boy, having grown up on screen as the son of Tarzan. With that series over (at least in its original conception), Sheffield was contracted for a series of his own. It is an enjoyable revamp of Tarzan under a new name with a new version of Jane, played here by Academy Award winner Peggy Ann Garner who has risen from child star herself to a decent young actress, and the adventures he takes her on are very enlightening for a civilized girl who learns that her society laws and rules of survival are often ruthless and a fight against God's law.Sheffield doesn't really have to act, just pose with his muscle bound arms and beefy chest, and grunt in his character's limited English. Sheffield comes across the lost Garner and tries to help her get back to her father Onslow Stevens, who may not be as grateful as he should be, having earlier nipped Sheffield's shoulder with a bullet. Sheffield proceeds to put Garner up near his cave, and a very subtle romance begins to emerge from their initially rocky introduction. Several dangerous elements emerge including a frightening attack by locusts who are definitely more than just your every day grasshopper. Obviously made for younger audiences, this is sort of a Blue Lagoon of jungle movies, yet avoids the insinuations of anything going on other than one person helping another although a few moments drop subtle hints that add a few laughs. Stock footage of old African documentaries mixes well with the newly shot footage. Adorable monkeys of all sorts provide even more giggles, especially one chimpanzee who tries on Garner's undergarments. The story is preposterous, but it's so gently done and enjoyable. While the days of the B movie would be soon over, the remaining years would produce a few more series like this, quota quickies, yet perfect fare for the entertainment starved public.

On safari in Africa, pretty teenager Peggy Ann Garner (as Patricia "Pat" Harland) photographs animals with father Onslow Stevens (as George). For better pictures, "glorified game warden" Charles Irwin (as Andy Barnes) and "native" Smoki Whitfield (as Eli) lead them deeper into the wild, where they meet "Teen Tarzan" Johnny Sheffield (as Bomba). The popular "Boy" from the faltering "Tarzan" movies was a natural pick for this unofficial spin-off series. While successful, it's nothing special. The first outing finds Mr. Sheffield and Ms. Garner in a tame "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934) mode. Best scene is when Garner tears her dress and Sheffield offers her his loincloth; she declines as the always-obvious stock footage inserts two chimps kissing.**** Bomba, the Jungle Boy (3/20/49) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Peggy Ann Garner, Onslow Stevens, Charles Irwin

***SPOILERS*** The first of a dozen "Bomba the Jungle Boy" movies has Bomba,Johnny Sheffield, together with his pet monkey Oto get involved with the Harland's Pat & George, Peggy Ann Gardner & Onslow Stevens, who traveled to darkest Africa to photograph the wildlife there. Not that he wanted too,Bomba always likes to keep to himself and his animal friends, but by saving Pat's life from a killer leopard he was stuck to be with her until he could reunite Pat with her father who in thinking that Bomba had kidnapped Pat wanted nothing more then to put a bullet between his eyes.The film has Pat who at first thought that Bomba was some kind of a coconut in his weird ideas of civilization soon began to realize that his type of lifestyle suited her better then the one back home in Indana in that life was far more interesting and exciting in Bomba's world, "The Valley of the Monkeys", then her's back in the states. It was later in the movie when Pat's pop and his good friend Andy Berns, Charles Irwin, and native guide Eli, Smoki Whitfield, caught up with her that she decided to go back home leaving Bomba a bit disappointed in what he did for Pat and her father in saving their lives from the lion worshiping native cult the Basis who without his help would have massacred the whole lot together with Andy & Eli!Nice stock footage of the jungle and those animals who inhabit it including a real life Lion hunt by the Basi warriors where they took on and killed a charging lion after he took down and mauled a number of them. We also get to see that Bomba unlike Tarzan, who's son Boy he played in some half dozen movies, knows enough English to be able to get by and be understood which shows that he was brought up by an Englishman, old hermit naturalist Cody Carson, not a family of apes like the ape man was.P.S Johnny Sheffield who made a career of swinging on jungle vines and tree branches, as both Boy & Bomba, as effortlessly as the apes and monkeys in the jungle tragically died after slipping off a tree he was pruning in his back yard on October 15, 2010! Either Johnny was too old and out of shape or just forget how to grab and hold on to the tree breaches at the time by him being retired from making Bomba and Boy movies for over 55 years!

Johnny Sheffield as a teenage Tarzan in the African wilds, rescuing a pretty young shutterbug and (rather half-heartedly) attempting to reunite her with her photographer father and his guides. Having already played "Boy" opposite Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan several times, Sheffield was a natural choice to enact the formative years of this role once filmmakers began to run out of ideas and made the (worthwhile) decision to explore the loin-clothed legend's early beginnings. Sheffield is somewhat self-conscious as the boy who calls himself Bomba, and yet his modest performance is the best thing in the picture. He's straightforward in an innocent way, immature and yet brave around the girl, and he manages an amusing connection with the audience (one can almost hear the sighs of young filmgoers as Bomba gently helps Peggy Ann Garner's Pat onto a log to cross the river). The film is padded with nature footage (most of it poorly photographed and repetitive), and too much time is spent dragging the characters back and forth through the foliage, but the simple story (perky girl meets tame savage boy) still holds a spark of enchantment. ** from ****