THE GOLDEN IDOL (Allied Artists, 1954), Written, produced and Directed by Ford Beebe, based upon the character created by Roy Rockwood in the "Bomba" Books, marks the tenth installment of the "Bomba the Jungle Boy" adventures series starring Johnny Sheffield, and the second in the series distributed through Allied Artists. It also marks the return of Paul Guilfoyle, who appeared earlier in BOMBA AND THE HIDDEN CITY (Monogram, 1950), as the Emir Hassan. For this installment, Guilfoyle assumes a similar character under a different name, that as Ali-Ben Mamoud. As with THE HIDDEN CITY, his character rivals Bomba and wants to make him suffer as he made him suffer. Flashback sequences foretell what Bomba did to have Mamoud become his enemy, that along with underwater sequences and vine swinging scenes lifted from the earlier installment making those familiar with the series to believe they are watching THE HIDDEN CITY instead of THE GOLDEN IDOL, even when the results similarity different.
The story begins in the village where ivory hunter, Joe Hawkins (Lane Bradford), arrives by jeep to meet with Ali Ben Mamoud (Paul Guilfoyle), who hires the most craftiest hunter in all Africa to help him retrieve the lost idol of Watusi that was stolen from him by Bomba, whom he classifieds as "The Jungle Devil." Flashbacks foretell what took place leading to the taking of the golden idol and hiding it in a safe place only known to Bomba. It is not known until later by Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) revealing to his friends, Deputy Andy Barnes (Leonard Mudie), Eli (Smoki Whitfield) and their archeologist visitor, Karen Marsh (Anne Kimbell), to collect the golden idol for her museum in England, that the villainous Arab had abducted the Golden Idol from the native witch doctor friend of his in Tanganyika where he endured torture from Mamoud for its reward. In the meantime, Hawkins, accompanied by his own safari, schemes in capturing Bomba by befriending and taking him into his confidence. He gets his chance by rescuing Bomba from the claws of a villainous lion. After joining Bomba and his safari, Hawkins reveals his true character by holding Barnes, Eli and Karen hostage until Bomba is forced to reveal where the golden idol is hidden. Bomba, however, has ideas of his own. Supporting cast include Rick Vallin (Abdullah); Roy Glenn (Gomo); James Adamson (Ezekial), Don C. Harvey (Officer Graves) and William Tannen (Sergeant Reed). Bomba's pet chimpanzee, Nakimda, is also on board for both comedy relief and rescue purposes for those in need.
For a change of pace in the series, the female character assisting Bomba isn't a teenage girl accompanied by her father, but an older woman around in her twenties on an assigned mission. Another change in the series is having the close casting credits followed by the THE END title. Standard production with enough jungle chase scenes as a reminder to anyone who has seen THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (RKO, 1932) about a crazed man hunting man rather than animals as his prey. What a good Bomba adventure this would have been with similar story casting Bomba fighting for survival to keep from being killed by a fast shooting hunter. Paul Guilfoyle makes a fine advisory to Bomba as Professor Moriarty is to English sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. Some good action scenes though low-budget production values prevent this from becoming a top movie edition, but not enough to label this as its worst either.
Available on DVD, THE GOLDEN IDOL, which was formerly presented on commercial television in the 1960s and 70s, followed by Turner Network Television in 1992, can be seen occasionally on Turner Classic Movies where it made its TCM premier March 3, 2012. Next installment: KILLER LEOPARD (1954) (**)
