The Lost Volcano (1950)

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Johnny Sheffield as Bomba the Jungle boy has to save a young boy kidnapped by hunters who want to use him to help them find hidden treasure. Bomba has to save the boy before the titular volcano erupts. More cheap production values and boring stories equal another bad Tarzan knock-off that's not worth watching. Maybe non-discriminating children would enjoy it.

Tommy Ivo is poised for his own jungle boy series that never happened as the end of the B movie was imminent. This third installment of the Monogram series has Tarzan's son, now Bomba, befriending the lonely Ivo, trying to convince his parents (Donald Woods and Marjorie Lord) of the existence of the elusive Bomba, a legend of fantasy to adults yet the obvious hero to an impressionable young boy. Add in Elena Verdugo as an exotic jungle girl and some bad white men, hidden treasure, and of course, an active volcano, and the stage is set for an action packed programmer that is satisfactory, if just barely adequate.In spite of that, Ivo holds his own opposite Johnny Sheffield as Bomba, and it's a curious idea that so early in the series, the obvious ploy to promote a possible new jungle boy now that Sheffield was not quite a boy. The film stars off slowly but quickly picks up speed when the bad guys (lead by John Ridgley) kidnap Ivo. From there on, it's adventurous fun and fraught with tension, Indiana Jones like thrills, yet silly and often melodramatic serial like camp.

The third entry in Monogram's Bomba series starring Johnny Sheffield has our monosyllabic hero befriending the son of an animal trapper. The boy's parents (Donald Woods, Marjorie Lord) believe Bomba is the boy's imaginary friend. When some bad men try to force the boy to take them to the ruins of a lost city near an active volcano, Bomba comes to the rescue.Child actor Tommy Ivo plays the boy who idolizes Bomba and gives the corniest 'aw-shucks' performance this side of Timmy from the Lassie TV show. Donald Woods is his usual stiff self. Pretty Marjorie Lord and Elena Verdugo represent the fairer sex in this one, for better or worse. Bomba really needed a regular cast of characters like Tarzan had. The lack of one hurts the series, I think. This has the expected amounts of stock footage and rear projection effects all of the Bomba movies have. The climax goes on way too long. It's a decent B jungle adventure picture but nothing remarkable. Which is par for the course with this series. Might play better for the kiddos. But watch out for that python scene!

Synopsis: The parents of a young boy named David,thinks Bomba is an imaginary friend. Luckily,the learn differently when they learned that Bomba,the Jungle Boy is real. When the boy(Tommy Ivo),and his female guide(Elena Verdugo)are kidnapped by a pair of jungle crook guides who are searching for the lost city's treasure,it's up to Bomba to rescue the boy and save the day.Produced by Walter Mirisch and Directed by Ford Beebe,the third installment "THE LOST VOLCANO",aka "BOMBA AND THE LOST VOLCANO" came out in 1950,and once again has Johnny Sheffield starring as Bomba. Within its running time of 69 minutes,this one has Bomba making friends with the son of Donald Woods and Majorie Lord who are in the jungle for Woods' work as a naturalist. The parents don't believe that Bomba exists,but their maid and assistant Elena Verdugo sure believes in the legend and they find that Bomba is real. Within its short time frame,the kidnappers force the boy into the jungle to find the lost treasure,and within the course of the film the boy gets rescued from a certain fate(often!). There is the scene with the giant snake,the scene where Bomba rescues the boy from a crocodile while Bomba tells him not to go swimming in the lake(there is a good crocodile fight scene-good underwater footage),and with the help of a erupting volcano,finishes off the bad guys and saves the day.FYI: Actress Majorie Lord,after this went on to star opposite Danny Thomas in the television series "Make Room For Daddy" some three years later in 1953. Co-star Elena Verdugo went to make a number of movies during the 1950's,but her biggest fame came in 1969 opposite Robert Young in the daring TV drama "Marcus Welby,MD". Actor John Ridgely was known for voice-over work for Saturday Morning cartoons during the late-1960's-and throughout the 1970's and 1980's. Ridgely also starred in Mel Brooks' 1976 satire "High Anxiety"