Story: The trade for ivory is brisk, to say the least and that has driven a lot of hunters and poachers to seek out elephants, to collect their valuable tusks. The greed pushes some people beyond the normal hunting limits however, with some preying on animals within sanctuary lands. One such area is home to Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) and he does his best to protect the locale from such predators, though even he can only do so much. So when two hunters arrive and work hard to win over the locals, Bomba is suspicious, but unable to prove what plot might be unfolding around the hunters. Can he figure out how to expose the truth about the hunters’ intentions or will the local elephants be cut down in the name of capitalism?

Entertainment Value: This sequel follows one of the strongest installments in the Bomba, Jungle Boy series (The Lion Hunters) and sadly, Elephant Stampede doesn’t continue that upward trend. The story is decent, but never reeled me in and the side threads weren’t memorable either, so we have kind of a filler episode here, just holding space in the franchise. For those who have kept up with the movies, seeing the characters is always fun and there is some jungle adventure here, just not enough. The pace is passable, though not as brisk as the series often is and the scenes of action are sparse. I did appreciate all the elephant footage and the ivory trade is a good concept, I just wish the narrative had a little more spark. But at barely seventy minutes in length, it goes by fast and for fans of the series, this holds a little entertainment value, at least. Just a shame to have the franchise slip like this after a bit of improvement in some of the other sequels.

As he was now playing the role for the sixth time, Johnny Sheffield is reliable and consistent as Bomba, not to mention one of the series’ best draws. Sheffield is warm and likable, showing humor when called for and able to handle the basic dramatic needs of the part. I think on the whole, the more Sheffield is around in these movies, the more entertainment we’re treated to. In this case, he takes a backseat at times because the story’s scope is a little larger than usual. The scenes without him tend to be dull or drawn out, thanks to a combination of forgettable writing and performances. But he does perk up the movie when he does appear on screen, so his performance is the best part of Elephant Stampede. The cast also includes Donna Martell, John Kellogg, Edith Evanson, and Myron Healey.

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