A silly entry in the Bomba series, this has Bomba ending up rescued by a mysterious native princess who is about as Arabic as Johnny Sheffield is. Bomba's legend has him the subject of a manhunt, and after being supposedly disposed of, floats into the hidden city where he is rescued by Leah, warrior princess, yet suffers the disapproval of her father. Sheffield seems to have added more than muscle since growing up, showing a rather pudgy face, not quite the muscular, lean star of the last Tarzan films and the first few of his own series. Bomba does manage to tackle a wild bull (what's a wild bull doing in the middle of the jungle?) and foil his enemies while aide wimpy princess Sue Englund, badly miscast in this mediocre entry in the series. Bomba seems rightfully annoyed by her presence, and even a twist concerning her doesn't make her character any more endearing. While the first three certainly tested the imagination, this is more amateurish and juvenile than any of the most mediocre of Tarzan, Jungle Jim or previous entries in this series. The presence of some cute monkeys and other wild life makes it a little more than barely watchable, but after an hour, I really found myself counting the last 10 minutes so I could move on. The highlight of the script is the curse, "May the fleas of a thousand camels nest in your beard!"

The evil Emir Hassan tries to have Bomba killed. Although he's injured, Bomba manages to get away and is nursed back to health by a pretty village girl named Zita (Sue England). Zita develops a crush on Bomba and follows him into the jungle so she won't have to marry Hassan. Turns out Zita has forgotten her past. In an unbelievable twist, Bomba remembers some things that help him piece together who Zita really is.The fourth in Monogram's Bomba series starring Johnny Sheffield is a particularly plot-heavy entry. This is the first one to leave the set and film on location. No, not in Africa. Don't be silly. All the pennies in Monogram's piggy bank couldn't have paid for that. I'm not sure where they filmed at. If I had to guess, I would say the LA Arboretum. This one also has some good action scenes and less cheesy stock footage. Pretty Sue England is fun and has nice chemistry with Sheffield. But since these movies were aimed at little boys, they never allowed much "mushy stuff." It's probably the best of the Bomba movies, going solely by entertainment value and nothing more.

Fourth chapter in Monogram Pictures' faintly-amusing "Bomba" serial, based upon Roy Rockwood's character of a teenage Tarzan who lives in the jungle and communicates with the animals like a high school variation of Doctor Dolittle. This time, Bomba is tracked through the wilds by a photographic expedition team who have gotten the evil Emir from the Hidden City and his army involved; the Emir is about to pick a new maiden for his harem, with only Bomba aware of the selected girl's forgotten childhood (she's actually a Princess!). Husky-yet-boyish Johnny Sheffield literally takes a beating in this episode (knocked unconscious near the opening, he is later stabbed and must be nursed back to health by the village maidens after floating down river on a log). Despite the curious insistence on action scenes (which are an improvement over the stock footage which permeated the first two "Bomba" installments), this B-level matinée item gets bogged down in plot, little of which makes sense. Sheffield is still engagingly sincere, but Bomba has been made too knowledgeable here, which takes away from his purity; he's so matter-of-fact with his information that he comes off indifferent. Sue England gets the role of the requisite pretty girl (with teased hair and lipstick!); she makes a valiant attempt to win Bomba's heart, nearly winning him over even though she can't swim or catch a fish. There's a lovely shot of England falling asleep in a tree, with Sheffield watching her from above, but the rest of the picture doesn't impress. Supporting cast is underwhelming, and the interiors of the Emir's fancy digs are atrocious. *1/2 from ****

Bomba and the Hidden City (1950) ** (out of 4) Extremely far-fetched but entertaining entry in the Monogram series has Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) witnessing a political assassination and years later the evil ruler (Paul Gulpoyle) plans on marrying a woman (Sue England) against her wishes. It's up to Bomba to try and save the girl as well as help her remember her past. This fourth film in the series is pretty camp and there's no question that it's over-the-top but I found it to be slightly entertaining simply because of all the craziness going at. At just 71-minutes the film doesn't last too long, which is always a good thing but it also manages to be rather fast paced, which was a first for the series. Director Ford Beebe actually keeps the film moving very well and we even get some decent action scenes from start to finish. This includes Bomba taking quite a bit of abuse as he tries to flee from the bad guys who are constantly shooting and throwing knives at him. The entire mystery of who the girl isn't all that hard to figure out and I'm sure the 3-year-old kids in the theater at the time figured out who she was long before it's revealed. Sheffield once again does a good job in his role of Bomba as he certainly fit the part and has no trouble playing it. England is fairly entertaining as the girl but this film clearly belongs to Gulpoyle as the crazy one. The actor really gives it his all and you can just see the glee in his eyes from getting to play a bad guy. With all of that said, this is still a low-budget Bomba movie so the various negative things are still present.