mark.waltz 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!"

moonspinner55 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 ****

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Bomba, Johnny Sheffield,gets himself in hot water here by being Johnny on the Spot in witnessing the murder of pretty Zita's, Sue England, parents and living to talk about it. This happened a while ago back in WWII when the person who took over Zita's father leadership of the Hidden City Hassan, Paul Gulpoyle, was working with Gen. Rommel's Afrika Corps as him being a traitor to his people.We have to wait until the film "Bomba and the Hidden City" is almost over for Bomba to reveal his big secret which he kept from Zita who from the shock of her parents being murdered had completely lost her memory about that tragic event! But of course Hassan and his top henchman Abudllah, Charles La Torrer, didn't forget what they did and try eventing they can to shut Bomba up before he spills the beans on them!Bomba does his usual heroics in the movie swinging on tree vines and saving damsels, or Zita, in distress but of course he needs help from his many jungle friends, monkeys and chimpanzees, to do it. As for the beautiful Zita who's been adopted by her now step father Raschid, Leon Belasco, she has no idea to who she really is which is the only reason keeping that's her alive! That's until a sharp eyed Bomba finds a number of snapshot photos of her and her real parents to jog back her memory. The funny thing about all that is that it was Hassan himself, her parents murderer, who unknowingly provided Zita or Bomba with the incriminating photos!***SPOILERS*** Bomba who was on the run throughout the entire movie from the Hassan Mob finally turns the tables on them with the help of his friends great white hunter Dennis Johnson, Damian O'Flynn, and his faithful native companion Hadja, Smoki Whitfield. It's really that double-crossing and sleazy rat Hassan who ends up really getting the worst of it, of what his gang of cut throats got, in the entire movie. Running for his life from Bomba and his monkey friends in the jungle Hassan ended up, by falling into the river, as food for the local crocodile population! The hungry crocodiles in how many they were and how little Hassan, being of average size and weight, had to offer them just couldn't get enough of the guy.

bkoganbing Although Bomba And The Hidden City has some oblique references to the real outside world when the late World War II is mentioned, this one has to rate as one of the lesser Bomba The Jungle Boy Features.This film finds Johnny Sheffield oddly enough the witness to an assassination in the jungle of the former rulers of the Hidden City which has a Moslem culture. The surviving daughter Sue England grew up like the other twin in The Man In The Iron Mask with no knowledge of her legacy. It's a case of jungle amnesia. If he knew the usurper veteran movie villain Paul Guilfoyle would kill her.A lot of the plot here really doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I blame that on the bad editing at Monagram Pictures. And Bomba also has a few escapes that should never have happened.