Ramar of the Jungle
Ramar of the Jungle was a syndicated American television series (1952–1954) that starred Jon Hall as Dr. Tom Reynolds[1] (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.
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.[2]
Alpha Video [3] 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.
Episodes
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Movies
Four movies were made for Lippert Pictures by combining several TV episodes together:
- White Goddess (1953)
- Eyes of the Jungle (1953)
- Thunder Over Sangoland (1955)
- Phantom of the Jungle (1955)
In addition, seven movies were made for television viewing:
- 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)
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."
References
External links
- Ramar of the Jungle tribute page
- Ramar of the Jungle on IMDb
- Ramar of the Jungle episodes at the Internet Archive