Bomba, the Jungle Boy (film)

Bomba, the Jungle Boy is a 1949 American adventure film directed by Ford Beebe. The film is about Bomba, the Jungle Boy. It was the first in a 12-film series featuring Bomba.

Bomba the Jungle Boy
Directed byFord Beebe
Produced byWalter Mirisch
Written byJack DeWitt
Based onthe book by Roy Rockwood
Production
company
Release date
1949
Running time
70 mins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$85,000[1]
Box office$500,000 est.[1]

Plot

A photographer and his daughter arrive in Africa hoping to capture the local wildlife on film. Instead, they encounter (and never end up photographing) a killer leopard, a swarm of locusts, deadly lion worshippers, and Bomba the Jungle Boy.

Bomba was raised by an aged naturalist, Cody Casson (since deceased). He now lives beyond the Great Rift. The photographer's daughter, wearing a well-tailored leopard skin, spends most of the film with Bomba, while her father, Commissioner Barnes, and Eli search for her.

Cast

Production

Walter Mirisch had been general manager of Monogram Pictures since 1945. They specialised in low-budget movies, including series of regular characters such as Charlie Chan, Joe Palooka and the Bowery Boys. Mirisch looked at the success of the Tarzan films and remembered the Bomba novels; he thought they might offer material to do a similar type of movie.

In November 1947 Monogram announced they had bought the rights to twenty of the stories. They assigned Walter Mirisch to oversee their production and said they intended to make three Bomba films per year. They were going to be in colour.[2] They were seeking a male actor aged 18 to 20 to star.[3]

In September 1948 Monogram's president Steve Broidy announced that the studio would make two Bomba films over the following year. (Other series at the studio included Joe Palooka, Charlie Chan and Bowery Boys.)[4]

Mirisch later claimed he was paid $2,500 a film, and the success of the series launched him as a producer.[5]

Reception

The New York Times called it a "dull flavorless picture about a vest pocket Tarzan."[6] However the movie was a large success relative to its budget.[1]

References
  1. "I thought we were making movies, not history" (2008, Jul). The Saturday Evening Post, 280, 23-23,82.
  2. By THOMAS F BRADY Special to The New York Times. (1947, Nov 27). "GEIGER WILL FILM DI DONATO'S NOVEL" New York Times
  3. Schallert, E. (1947, Nov 28). "DRAMA AND FILM" Los Angeles Times
  4. "Studio to turn out 61 pictures during 1948–49" (1948, Sep 14). Los Angeles Times
  5. Clooney, N. (1998, Mar 13). "Oscar's popularity a 70-year tradition" Cincinnati Post
  6. T., H. H. (1949, Apr 16). "At the Rialto" New York Times
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