Description
Original 1955 US 1 sheet, used, folded (69 x 104 cm)
Ramar of the Jungle is a syndicated American television series (1952–1954) that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds(the titular “ramar,” an African title for a white medicine man) and Ray Montgomery as his associate, Professor Howard Ogden. Episodes were set in Africa and India. Other cast members included Nick Stewart, Victor Millan and James Fairfax.
Actor Jon Hall created the series, and starred in it, obviously trying to emulate the then-popular “Jungle Jim” movies. 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.
Several television episodes were later combined and released as theatrical movies by producer Leon Fromkess.
Alpha Video 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.
The 52 Episodes (in alphabetical order): “Blind Peril”, “The Blue Treasure”, “The Bride of the Idol”, “The Burning Barrier”, “Call to Danger”, “Contraband”, “The Crocodile God of Kaa”, “Curse of the Devil Doll”, “Danger in Disguise”, “Dark Justice”, “Dark Venture”, “The Devil’s Soul”, “The Doomed Safari”, “Drums of Doom”, “Drums of the Jungle”, “Evil Strangers”, “Evil Trek”, “The Flaming Mountain”, “The Flower of Doom”, “The Forbidden Village”, “The Golden Tablet”, “The Hidden Treasure”, “Idol Voo-Doo”, “Jungle Terror”, “Jungle Treasure”, “Jungle Vengeance”, “King of the Watus”, “Lady of the Leopards”, “The Lost Safari”, “Mark of the Bola”, “The Mark of Shaitan”, “The Mask of Kreenah”, “The Mystic Pawn”, “Queen of Sidonis”,”The Road of No Return”, “The Sacred Monkey”, “Savage Challenge”, “Savage Fury”, “Striped Fury”, “Thunder over Sangoland”, “The Tiger’s Claw”, “Trail to Danger”, “The Tree of Death”, “Tribal Feud”, “The Unknown Terror”, “Urn of Destiny”, “Valley of No Return”, “The Voice in the Sky”, “Voice of the Past”, “White Man’s Magic”, “White Savages” and “Zombie Terror”.
Movies
Four movies were made (by combining three formerly unrelated episodes into each movie, editing them into a single storyline) which were then theatrically distributed by Lippert Pictures in the USA and Eros Films in the UK:
White Goddess (1953)
Eyes of the Jungle (1953)
Thunder Over Sangoland (1955)
Phantom of the Jungle (1955), combines “The Golden Tablet” and “The Flaming Mountain” with a 3rd unidentified episode to tell the story of a young woman scientist (played by Anne Gwynne) searching for her lost archaeologist father.
In addition, seven additional movies were made in 1964 for television viewing only:
Ramar and the Burning Barrier (1964, ITC, 82 minutes, b&w)
Ramar and the Deadly Females (1964, ITC, 80 minutes, b&w)
Ramar and the Jungle Secrets (1964, ITC, 81 minutes, b&w)
Ramar’s Mission to India (1964, ITC, 80 minutes, b&w)
Ramar and the Savage Challenges (1964, ITC, 83 minutes, b&w)
Ramar and the Hidden Terrors (1964, ITC, 83 minutes, b&w)
Ramar and the Jungle Voodoo (1964, ITC, 78 minutes, b&w) — this is the only one of the seven available on dvd
Merchandising
Ramar’s popularity in not only its initial run but syndication led to a wide variety of tie-in toy guns, comic books, board games, costumes, iron-on shirt transfers, jigsaw puzzles and playsets.
Popular culture
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.”
