Producer Walter Mirisch kept Allied Artists in the black ink with his consistently profitable adventure series 'Bomba the Jungle Boy,' starring Johnny Sheffield from the long-running Tarzan films. Not long after the series was established Mirisch turned it over to veteran writer-director Ford Beebe, who by the final installments was putting the films together almost on his own. A noted workaholic, Beebe entered the film business early in the silent era and was still going strong in his middle '60s. The ninth chapter The Golden Idol sees Bomba involved in a race to the Pongola Basin to find the fabled 'Lost Idol of the Watusi.' The unscrupulous treasure hunters include an Arabian prince and an American soldier of fortune; Bomba tries to secure the artifact for a scientist from the British Museum, Karen (Anne Kimbell). The mischievous chimpanzee Kimbbo gets involved, as does Bomba's old pal Eli (Smoki Whitfield), recently returned to the series. Like many Hollywood actresses, the busy Ms. Kimbell took the best roles she could find. In this same year she starred in director Roger Corman's tiny first feature Monster from the Ocean Floor. Corman's new approach to low-budget filmmaking would displace the fading "B"-picture system.

By Glenn Erickson