Forgotten Films: Safari Drums

When I was a kid, I read as many of the Bomba books as I could find in the public library, and I even bought a few of my own. (Later on, George Kelley was kind enough to send me a few more.) I know now that the books are supposed to be racist and badly written, but I didn't know that at the time, nor did I notice it. I just enjoyed the adventure and wanted to learn if Bomba ever did find his parents.

Since I liked the books, I naturally liked the movies based on them, too. They were typical Saturday afternoon fare at the Palace Theater in my hometown, and I was usually there every week with as rowdy a crowd of kids as you could find anywhere. I was probably the only one who was actually interested in seeing the movie, geek that I already was.

The plot of this one's the usual thing. Some film crew is in back-lot Africa, someone gets killed, and Bomba has to help out. Plenty of stock footage and fake animals. But fun if you're a Bomba fan.