Bomba, The Jungle Boy

This week, Warner Archive released the first volume of Bomba, The Jungle Boy films on DVD. The films, based on a children's book series published in the 1920s, were produced by the Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures starting in 1949 as a vehicle for youthful actor Johnny Sheffield, who had just completed his tenure as "Boy" in the Tarzan films produced by MGM and RKO. As Bomba, Sheffield was able to remain in the jungle spotlight for a few more years (until 1955!), in much the same manner as his on-screen father figure, Johnny Weismuller, who moved on to make a series of low-budget Jungle Jim B-movies for Columbia, post-Tarzan.

I've never seen any of the Bomba films, but I love old Hollywood backlot jungle adventures, and look forward to checking these out. This first volume contains six features: Bomba The Jungle Boy, Bomba on Panther Island, The Lost Volcano, The Hidden City, The Lion Hunters, and Elephant Stampede. With luck, I'll be reviewing these for my DVD Late Show site.