Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Expected more

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

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 feels bad about being an orphan so he decides to find out who his parents are and what happened to them. The trail leads him to a village ruled by a corrupt chief and his ruthless daughter. Needless to say, the two don't like Bomba poking around and asking questions. This is a nice change of pace plot for the series, which usually had the standard 'evil white men come to the jungle to kill or steal and Bomba must stop them' formula. It only took seven sequels for them to think about following up on this plot thread from the first movie but I'm glad they finally did.The Bomba series had its fair share of pretty ladies and here we have two. Karen Sharpe is the daughter of a government official and Suzette Harbin is the daughter of the village chief. I'm not sure which girl is the jungle girl of the title. I mean, Harbin is the only one of the two who actually lives in the jungle but Sharpe is the heroine. Neither is a 'jungle girl' in the same sense that Bomba is a 'jungle boy.' Both are attractive and well-written for young female roles at the time. When Bomba swims out to rescue her from a crocodile, Sharpe takes matters into her own hands and swims to shore, gets a gun, and kills the croc herself! Harbin is her father's right-hand and heir to the throne. She's in charge of the village guard and killing her father's enemies. It's one of the best Bomba movies, which isn't saying a whole lot I know. It's a juvenile adventure movie with a little more plot than most in the series and some strong female characters which deserves mentioning. The movie makes use of stock footage, as it always did. Maybe a little less than usual, though. There are some humorous moments with the chimps that I enjoyed. It does go on too long, as most of the Bomba sequels did for some reason. Nothing you can't live without seeing but a good way to pass the time if you're so inclined.

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.