See also
- Ramar of the Jungle at IMDb
- Jungle Jim at IMDb
- Bomba, the Jungle Boy at IMDb
- Jungle Jim
- Jungle Jim (serial)
- Jungle Jim (film) Titles of feature films
- Jungle Jim TV series
- Congo Bill
- Bomba the Jungle Boy
| Ramar of the Jungle | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Jungle Adventure |
| Created by | Jon Hall |
| Written by | Sherman L. Lowe George Sayre Charles Condon |
| Directed by | Lew Landers |
| Starring | Jon Hall Ray Montgomery |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Rudolph Flothow |
| Producer | Leon Fromkess |
| Production companies | Arrow Productions, Inc. |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication |
| Release | October 7, 1952 – 1954 |
Ramar of the Jungle is a 1950s American television series that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds [1] (the titular "ramar" being the natives' title for a white medicine man). [2] In addition to Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds (Ramar), the series also starred Ray Montgomery as Reynolds' associate, Professor Howard Ogden. Victor Millan played the role of Zahir and Nick Stewart played Willy-Willy. [2]
Episodes were set in Africa and India. The series aired in syndication, premiering on October 7, 1952, and airing through 1954. Reruns continued "until the end of the 1960s." [3]
Other notable performers who appeared on the show include Woody Strode, Juanita Moore, Archie Savage, Louise Franklin, Bernard Hamilton—aka Bernie Hamilton, making his television debut [5] —and Felix Nelson. [6]
Hall created the series, and starred in it, obviously trying to emulate the then-popular Jungle Jim films. [7] Produced by Rudolph Flothow for Arrow Productions and ITC Entertainment, four sets of 13 episodes were produced, for a total of 52. Each episode runs approximately 25 minutes. In season one, the first 13 episodes are set in Africa and the second 13 are set in India. In the second season, all 26 episodes take place in Africa.
Lew Landers was the director, and Wilbur McGaugh was assistant director. Writers were Sherman L. Lowe, George Sayre, and Charles Condon. [8] When work on the second season ended in 1954, producer Flothow told Hall there would be a hiatus before they would resume work on the series. Incensed at the delay, Hall threatened to move to Australia where he told Flothow he would be starring in a TV series there called Capt. Thunderhead. Although Flothow then agreed to resume production on the third season, Hall relocated to Australia anyway. The Australian series never materialized, and Hall was left completely unemployed. (Years later, Hall committed suicide after learning he had inoperable bladder cancer in 1979.) [9]
Several "Ramar" episodes were later combined and released as feature films by producer Leon Fromkess, some shown theatrically and others created specifically for television. [10]
Television Programs of America boosted the program's visibility with a variety of promotional materials, including comic books and autographed photographs of Hall. For 25 cents a person could buy a Jungle Adventure Kit, and $1.49 bought a board game that had participants encountering a variety of pitfalls as they attempted to reach the Temple of the Love Goddess. Hall made personal appearances that attracted children, many of whom left with Ramar-related items. In 1979, Hall said, "We made almost as much on the tie-ins as we did off the show." [3]
In November 1954, Macy's opened a $10,000 replica of the set on which the program was filmed.For 25 cents, a child could walk through the set and, in the process, see a variety of Ramar merchandise. The opening ceremony included Hall, Grace Kelly, the mayor, and a chimpanzee. [2]
The series' 52 episodes are listed here in alphabetical order. Alpha Video [11] has released 11 Ramar dvds, containing a total of 44 of the 52 episodes. There are eight episodes which have not been released by Alpha.
Key: An asterisk indicates that the episode is not available on dvd
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Four feature films were made (by combining three formerly unrelated episodes into each film, editing them into a single storyline) which were then theatrically distributed by Lippert Pictures in the United States and Eros Films in the UK:
In addition to the 4 theatrical features, seven additional TV movies were created in 1964 for television release only:
Jimmy Buffett referenced this show in his song "Pencil Thin Mustache" in the verse, "Ramar of the Jungle was everyone's bwana, but only jazz musicians were smoking marijuana."
Edwin Thomas "Ted" Astley was a British composer. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the main themes for The Saint, Danger Man and The Baron. He also successfully diversified into symphonic pop and the arrangement of his theme to The Saint, as re-recorded by Orbital, reached number three in the UK Singles Chart.
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, was a Russian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 when he founded the Incorporated Television Company to distribute programmes, and following the success of The Adventures of Robin Hood decided to focus on bringing them to the American market. Grade had some success in this field with such series as Gerry Anderson's many Supermarionation series such as Thunderbirds, Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner, and Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. Later, Grade invested in feature film production, but several expensive box-office failures caused him to lose control of ITC, and ultimately resulted in the disestablishment of ATV after it lost its ITV franchise.
Jon Hall was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's The Hurricane, and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, including Invisible Agent and The Invisible Man's Revenge and six films he made with Maria Montez. He was also known to 1950s fans as the creator and star of the Ramar of the Jungle television series which ran from 1952 to 1954. Hall directed and starred in two 1960s sci-fi films in his later years, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966).
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode was an American actor, football player and author. He was a decathlete and football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National Football League in the postwar era. After football, he went on to become a film actor, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. Strode also served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.
The Baron is a British television series made in 1965 and 1966, based on the book series by John Creasey and produced by ITC Entertainment. Thirty episodes were produced, and the show was exported to the American ABC network.
James Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.
Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began on January 7, 1934, as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle Jim. The character also trekked through radio, film, comic book and television adaptations. Notable was a series of films and television episodes in which Johnny Weissmuller portrayed the safari-suit wearing character, after hanging up his Tarzan loincloth. The strip concluded on August 8, 1954.
The Phantom is a 1943 15-chapter cliffhanger superhero serial, produced by Rudolph C. Flothow, directed B. Reeves Eason, and starring Tom Tyler in the title role. It is based on Lee Falk's comic strip The Phantom, first syndicated to newspapers in 1936 by King Features Syndicate. The serial also features Jeanne Bates as the Phantom's girlfriend Diana Palmer, and Ace the Wonder Dog as the Phantom's trusty German shepherd Devil.
Spencer Gordon Bennet was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director.
A jungle girl is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. A prehistoric depiction is a cave girl.
Hell Ship Mutiny is a 1957 American South Seas adventure film directed by Lee Sholem and Elmo Williams starring Jon Hall who also produced and narrated the film. It is a compilation of a 1955 unsold television pilot Knight of the South Seas. Hall's father Felix Locher plays the role of a native chief.
Eric Taylor was an American screenwriter with over fifty titles to his credit. He began writing crime fiction for the pulps before working in Hollywood. He contributed scripts to The Crime Club, Crime Doctor, Dick Tracy, Ellery Queen, and The Whistler series, as well as six Universal monster movies.
Devil Goddess (1955) is the sixteenth and final Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. It features Johnny Weissmuller in his third and last performance as the protagonist adventurer Johnny Weissmuller, and his final film as well. It co-starred Ed Hinton and William Tannen as the film's antagonists, Leopold and Nels Comstock, respectively. Angela Stevens also stars. The film was directed by Spencer G. Bennet and written by Dwight Babcock and George H. Plympton.
Rudolph C. Flothow was a movie and television producer active from 1915 through the mid-1950s, producing more than 45 films and over 80 television episodes. Most of his productions were crime films for Columbia Pictures, including the 1943 Batman serial, and Crime Doctor, Whistler, Boston Blackie, and Ellery Queen films. He directed the sound sequences in the early sound feature Lucky Boy, starring George Jessel.
Jungle Jim is a 1955–56 American TV series based on the Jungle Jim newspaper comic strip. It stars Johnny Weissmuller, who had previously played the character in a series of sixteen theatrically released Jungle Jim feature films, which were produced soon after he retired from the Tarzan film series in 1948 for which he is best remembered.
RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE—Headed by Jon Hall went all out in casting last August and September when many local actors and actresses were selected to play supporting roles. Among those who work in the series are Francois Andre, Juanita Moore, Woody Strode, Archie Savage, Nick Stewart, Louise Franklin, Bernard Hamilton, Felix Nelson, James Adamson, Ella Mae Brown, Otis Greene and many others.
