Bomba and The Jungle Girl 1952.

This film in the Bomba series finds Johnny Sheffield both finding out his true identity and dealing with a usurper who has taken the leadership of the Masai tribe.

It seems as though Bomba’s real parents were government agents who knew the truth of the coup in the Masai tribe. Martin Wilkins is the usurper and he reals with help of Suzette Harbin who has the meatiest role in the film that of his daughter and chief enforcer. She’s a real piece of work and goes out in quite a fashion.

Helping Bomba is Walter Sande who is in the Masai village on a survey and his daughter Karen Sharpe and of course that symbol of jungle authority Commissioner Barnes as played by Leonard Mudie, the other recurring character in the Bomba series.

Kansas Territory 1952

The second film on the Double Feature has Joe Daniels  ( Bill Elliott billed here as Wild Bill Elliott ) returning to Kansas to kill the murderer of his bother. Surviving the attempt on his life he arrives to find everyone hates him because his brother was bad. He knew his brother to be good and believes they are all mistaken. When he finally finds the killer he also now realises that the townspeople were right. His brother had gone bad and deserved to die.

 The Majestic Cinema

We can only speculate as to where this cinema was – there used to be a Majestic Cinema in a Lincolnshire town – a cinema which is now sadly no more. Could have been that one.

Rex Reason has died

I acquired these some time ago – it seemed that Jig Saw Puzzles from the films were in vogue in the early Fifties.

I do have FOUR from the BlueLagoon of 1950 and remember having one or maybe more than one from Diamond City long ago.

Wish I still had them. Well in fact I do have the set of FOUR from The Blue Lagoon 1949.

These are extremely rare jigsaw puzzles from Walt Disney’s live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood (1952). Printed in lovely bright colours!

This is an interesting promotional advertisement from the very early 1950s.

Bomba, The Bowery Boys, Blue Grass of Kentucky – a film title I seem to remember because to me as a child it sounded so good.  Don’t think I ever saw the film – must get it.

However I have found this review – as follows :-

Saboteur was shown again on BBC 2 In England yesterday Saturday 5 December 2015. It’s a Hitchcock film I like as it takes us on a roller coaster ride across the USA and back to New York Harbour – as this final scene sequence shows when the hero Robert Cummings and villain Fry played by Norman Lloyd climb out onto the torch of the Statue of Liberty. In this sequence  how varied the shots are. We don’t just get a shot of the statue followed by close-ups of the action, we get this complex series of Matte shots – see below

Maybe this is why I find myself drawn to the sequence – in that it is so unusual and original with shots cut in from every angle.

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An  article in The Daily Herald of 8th September 1951  –  refers to the death of The Queen of Technicolor Maria Montez. It seems that she stepped into a bath of very hot water, collapsed and died. Her sister found her dead in her flat in Paris and despite strenuous efforts to revive her she sadly passed away. Friends had said that she had previously complained of heart trouble but this was thought not to be serious.

She was born in the Dominican Republic and had come to Hollywood

We have featured this one before and of course it was made well before the fifties, but well worth having another look at this wonderful set.

Lost Horizon (1937). Shangri-La has become synonymous with paradise, and practically everyone, not just filmgoers, recognise the name. When Frank Capra filmed James Hilton’s novel, his set designers came up with an unforgettable vision of the exotic Himalayan home of ageless monks and their Utopian community. The grounds are complete with reflecting pools, wandering ornamental wildfowl, conifers, and weeping Chinese trees. Dominating it all are the radiant blue skies and brilliant sunlight of Southern California.

Gone with the Wind (1939). What an iconic scene from this wonderful film. So essential is Scarlett O’Hara’s plantation Tara to the film that composer Max Steiner actually gave it its own musical theme.

Its destruction in the Civil War devastates Scarlett, and her obsession with restoring it to its previous glory becomes the driving motivation of her life. To achieve this she marries two men she doesn’t love for their money and even kills. In the end though, after she has lost everything else, she returns to Tara and vows to make it the  place it once was.  In a film of lavish expenditure, clearly not a penny was spared by David O. Selznick on making Tara the image of  Scarlett’s dreams

Here is another scene I love – similar set at Tara.

Above – With Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes and Olivia de Havilland as Melanie.
“Gone with the Wind” brought together the best people in Hollywood. The end result is a stunning film that for about four hours keep us interested in the story unfolding in the screen. Of course, credit must be due to the director, Victor Fleming, and his vision, as well as the adaptation by Sydney Howard.

The cinematography created by Ernest Haller gives us a vision of the gentle South before the war, and the Phoenix raising from the ashes of a burned Atlanta. The music of Max Steiner puts the right touch behind all that is seen in the movie.

Also the Technicolor was wonderful

Further to a previous article, I now have this jig saw puzzle and it is indeed a lovely item from all those years ago.   The puzzle is an actual scene from the film   From the film – Below the actual scene.

Above is the picture from the jig saw – when we are able to complete it