Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The sixth Bomba movie starring Johnny Sheffield has Bomba learning to read from beautiful Lola (Donna Martell). Lola is interested in Bomba for more than his mind but, as was the case in most of these movies, Bomba will have none of that. So, to make him jealous, Lola starts flirting with one of two ivory poachers. Bomba doesn't care about the flirting but he does care about the poaching. So he steps in to put a stop to them killing his elephant friends.No doubt some modern viewers will read some unintended subtext into the fact that Bomba was often uninterested in the attractive women throwing themselves at him in these movies. I think the real reason was the makers of these movies were aiming them at little boys who didn't like 'mushy stuff,' as well as the comic value that comes from some of these situations. Anyway, the series really needed a Jane like Tarzan had. It's unfortunate they didn't see it that way but that's just one of the many reasons this series never rises above middling juvenile entertainment. This entry is par for the course with the usual rear projection effects and stock footage but there is a nice supporting cast, which helps.

Elephants are strolling around as muscular Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) rides one through the African jingle. Bomba must swing into action when a snake threatens his bird. After this, Bomba visits attractive Donna Martell (as Lola). This shapely brunette is helping "old maid" schoolteacher Edith Evanson (as Miss Banks) teach the natives to read. Bored with her job, Ms. Martell is much more excited to be tutoring Bomba on the side. The jungle boy is a quick study, in academic areas...Bomba learns to spell "L.I.O.N", but Ms. Martell is more interested in "L.O.V.E." A good jungle boy, Bomba is not interested in finding a mate. Frustrated, Martell decides to make Bomba jealous by seeming to be sexually available for trigger-happy John Kellogg (as Bob Warren) and amorous Myron Healey (as Joe Collins). On safari, this dastardly duo is out to shoot elephants and steal local ivory. Lola's idea is dumb and dangerous. You could say: Whatever Lola wants, Lola doesn't get.**** Bomba: Elephant Stampede (10/28/51) Ford Beebe ~ Johnny Sheffield, Donna Martell, John Kellogg, Myron Healey

***SPOILERS*** The usual non violent and peace loving Bomba, Johnny Sheffield, the jungle boy takes the gloves off and keeps his loin cloth and underneath briefs on in taking on a number of poachers who are out to shoot his elephant friends for their precious ivory tusks.Gunning down their guide Game Warden Mark Phllips, Guy Kingsford, Warren & Collins, John Kellogg & Myron Healey,are now free to gun down as many elephants as they want and take their Ivory tusks across the border of the game reserve into Portuguese territory. With Warren impersonating the late Mark Phillips the two poachers have a field day in gunning down helpless elephants until Bomba arrives and puts their plans on ice. By him organizing his elephant friends with the help of his monkey sidekick to strike back at the poachers with the fury of an unstoppable elephant stampede.It's not just the elephants that we and Bomba get to see in the film there's also pretty Lola,Donna Martell, who's helping the local natives with her boss spinster schoolmaster Miss. Banks, Edith Evarson, on their A.B.C's. So that they get get educated enough to be able to read the works of Milton Melville and Dickens that she has ready or them in her school library.It's when both Warren & Collins plan to raid the secret cave that tons of ivory tusks are hidden in that the very naive chief Nagaila, Martin Wilkins, told them about that Bomba springs into action. There's also the fact that the two poachers later kidnap and are holding both Lola and Miss. Banks hostage and threaten to murder them if they don't get what they want- the information that Bomba has-in finding the secret cave. That also gets Bomba a bit, quite a bit, hot under, since he doesn't wear a shirt, the loin cloth in him dealing with them.***SPOILERS*** Violent ending with the elephants coming to Bomba Lola and Miss.Banks rescue and putting and end to both Warran and Collins,who had by then had a falling out, dreams of wealth and glory. It was the worst of the two Warren, who shot and killed his partner Collins and wounded Lola, who ended up getting the worst of it. In him being trampled to death by the rampaging elephants whom he was planning to do in for their ivory. As for Bomba he's now back swinging on tree vines with his monkey friends in the jungle and eating his favorite diet of coconuts and bananas. And thanks to Lola in her teaching Bomba to read and write English he plans to find a newsstand,if there's one in the jungle, and get the latest edition of the Wall Street Journal New York Times and Washington Post and catch up with the latest business and news of the world. That's if he can somehow come up with the cash to buy them.

This segment of the Bomba the Jungle Boy series finds Bomba trying to better himself by learning to read. Teaching him is the lovely Donna Martell, teaching assistant to Edith Evanson at the local native village. She'd like to further Bomba's education in other ways, but Bomba has his mind on book learning.All that comes to an end when ivory poachers arrive in the territory in the persons of John Kellogg and Myron Healey. They murder their professional hunting guide and assume his identity. And Healey starts moving in on Martell which bothers everyone.Elephant Stampede marked the appearance of Leonard Mudie as Commissioner Andy Barnes. The character appeared in the first Bomba film with another actor, but was then dropped. Mudie played Barnes throughout the rest of the series and was the only other regular besides Johnny Sheffield as Bomba.If you know the Tarzan series and know his relationship with the elephant community and how they mutually aid each other you know something about how this turns out. And Bomba does need the aid of his pachyderm friends.One of the better in the Bomba series.