a_chinn Johnny Sheffield, Bomba the Jungle Boy, faces off with a dangerous jungle guide, which he takes on with the help of his jungle animal friends. As with most all the Bomba films, there's a ridiculously small budgets, lots of stock footage, and some embarrassingly bad looking backlot jungles. Stick with the early Weissmuller Tarzan films if you need a black and white jungle adventure fix.

lugonian SAFARI DRUMS (Allied Artists, 1953), Produced, Written and Directed by Ford Beebe, the first of four "Bomba" adventures under the new Allied Artists banner, following its previous eight installments for the then folded Monogram Studios, is an agreeable story helped somewhat by a better-than-average script. A far cry from the Johnny Weissmuller/ Tarzan adventures produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1930s, SAFARI DRUMS, in reference to drum beat code messages sent across the jungle, resumes John Sheffield, formerly Johnny Sheffield of Boy fame in the Weissmuller/Tarzan series, in leopard skin loincloth and spear weapon carrier, for another fun-filled 71 minute adventure for the Saturday matinée crowd, to predictable results.Based on the Roy Rockwood character created in the "Bomba" books, the story, set in Africa, begins with a motion picture crew, headed by Larry Conrad (Emory Parnell), watching footage of animals captured on film by Steve (Paul Marion). Unhappy with such amateurish production, Conrad takes the suggestion of Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie) to hire Bomba, the Jungle Boy (John Sheffield) to join their party and assist them in getting some authentic and realistic action shots. Bomba, living many miles away in a cave at the side of a volcano with his pet monkey, N'Kimba, hears the safari drum message asking him to assist the crew. Bomba's drum beat reply happens to be "No." Conrad, refusing to take no for an answer, decides to journey out and meet with Bomba. Accompanied by Brad Morton (Douglas Kennedy) and his secretary, Peggy Jethro (Barbara Bestar), the crew, headed by Eli (Smoki Whitfield), the crew journeys four days before encountering the the jungle boy, whose answer is still no, in spite of some pleading by the young and attractive Peggy. Only after receiving another drum message from Barnes that one of the members of the expedition robbed and killed his good friend, Stapleton, does Bomba agree to guide the crew long enough before the police, hired by Sergeant Collins (Russ Conway), to come make an arrest. The problem is, which one of the crew members is wanted for murder? And what's in the back of the truck that Bomba is not allowed to see?With volcano eruptions and some frightful lion and tiger fights being common ground in the series, SAFARI DRUMS makes good use of murder mystery with a killer being among the production crew. As with the Tarzan of the movies, Bomba fears for his animals and doesn't trust outsiders invading his territory. His only human friends are Deputy Barnes and safari guide, Eli. Naturally Bomba encounters broken promises where one of the members shoots a lion against his wishes. And like The Lone Ranger, Bomba disappears before being thanked for his services. Other common factors found here as with others in the "Bomba" series is the extensive use of animal footage obviously from newsreels inserted into the story, and Bomba's pet monkey for comedy relief, but not as extensive as Tarzan's very own Cheta.Not quite as legendary as Tarzan, the Bomba series did have television exposure in the sixties and seventies on commercial television before turning up on cable television, only in recent years from Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 28, 2012). Next installment: THE GOLDEN IDOL (1954). (**1/2)

sol1218 **SPOILERS*** Bomba, Johnny Sheffield, plays private detective here in trying to find a killer who's a member of a safari taking wild life movies in the bush and plain country of Central East Africa. There's the head of the safari Larry Conrad, Emory Parnell, who's so obsessed with taking wild life action film that he's secretly trying to arraigned a fight between two big cats so he can bring the footage back to the states and make, by showing it in the movies and on TV, millions off it. Bomba who's been informed by his good friend the district Deputy Commissioner Barnes, Leonard Mudie, to stay with the safari until the local police arrive is forced to put with with Conrad and his kill crazy, in killing wildlife, assistant Brad Morton's, Douglas Kennedy, antics in killing anything that moves with him being almost totally helpless to stop it in order to prevent blowing his cover! there's also pretty Peggy Morton, Barbara Bestar, Conrad's secretary who knows what her boss is up to but is in no position about it in fear ending up as dead on the animals that he and his trigger happy assistant Morton are planning to gun down. Getting to the murder victim it's famed geologist Staplenton who was killed by a member of Conrad's safari who not only stole a cache of uncut diamonds hat he had in his possession but the map where they came from where there's a whole cave or mine loaded with them.It's the action scenes that really make "Safari Drums" worth watching with it's plot so confusing that at times you feel like your seeing two or even three films with different story lines at the same time. Bomba does his best to keep the audience from falling asleep with his vine tree swinging and fights to the death with a black panther, who tried to attack and kill Peggy, and man-eating lion who almost mauled him to death. In the end Bomba did his job as a jungle PI or private detective as well as jungle, at age 22, boy by finding just who murdered Stapleton but it was one of his jungle friends who ended up doing the killer in. As for Conrad's once in a lifetime movie of the big cat fight that he secretly staged, behind Bomba's back, it was gone forever! In that Bomba's monkey friend and companion chimpanzee N'Kimba broke into his makeshift jungle dark room, looking for what he thought was a stack of bananas, and exposed it-the film-to the light of day! P.S I noticed that the writer producer and director of the movie "Safari Drums" Ford Bebee was so hard up for scenes to put into it, to fill it's 70 minutes running time, that he was forced to insert footage from previous Bomba films to fill the gap.

bkoganbing The Bomba The Jungle Boy Pictures series was running out of gas by the time Safari Drums were telling Johnny Sheffield that a movie company was in the neighborhood shooting. Safari Drums adds a mystery element to the proceedings here.Now granted the Bomba series was intended for juvenile audiences, but just by looking at the cast list you should be able to tell Sheffield and Commissioner Leonard Mudie just who was the individual who killed an archaeologist and is hiding with the film crew. I think most of the juveniles in 1953 could have told as well.Emory Parnell is the producer/director who wants and stages unusual action shots, Barbara Bestar is the film star, Paul Marion is the cameraman and Douglas Kennedy is their guide. Things never go quite right for Parnell in this film.Bomba's adventures are getting a bit thin here.