''Chico the Rainmaker'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

film serial made by Eyeline Films and the

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...

. It was shown in 1974 on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

in the USA, and shown in British cinemas in the 1970s and 1980s as part of their "Saturday Matinees". The series featured a talking

shrunken head A shrunken head is a severed and specially prepared human head that is used for trophy, ritual, or trade purposes. Headhunting has occurred in many regions of the world, but the practice of headshrinking has only been documented in the northwest ...

. It was also shown on television in the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

as a 7-part serial in the mid-1970s on Saturday afternoons. It was also known as ''The Boy with Two Heads''.

Plot synopsis

A boy named Chris Page finds a decorated box at a local antiques shop that contains an eerie shrunken head. He and his sister Jill, inadvertently play a special series of notes on a flute and call the head magically to life. It reveals itself to be Chicopacobacowana, a 2000 yr-old tribal witch doctor from the jungles of the Amazon. He is vital to the tribe both as protector and because he is their rainmaker. He has been making the rains for 2000 years however for the past three years, his people have been suffering from a drought. 'Chico' had been taken from the jungle by explorers three years previously, and had been awaiting an opportunity to return to his tribe ever since. The shrunken head along with some other artifacts had been inadvertently sold as part of a lot to a local antiques shop owner who just wanted to buy an old lawnmower. The shrunken head is being sought by an art dealer (Stanley Thornton) who knows it to be priceless. Two thieves (Doug and Des) who had earlier attempted to burgle the antique shop, learn of a cash reward that Thornton is offering for Chico, and they attempt to capture him. The series centres on the children's adventures as they try to help Chico get home to South America while evading Thornton and the thieves.

Episodes

It was "A Serial in Seven Episodes" with each episode approximately 15 minutes in length. * 1. The Mysterious Box * 2. Chico makes magic * 3. Chase for Chico * 4. The Magic Football * 5. The Secret Cave * 6. Chico makes the Rain * 7. Farewell to Chico

Cast & Characters

Main characters: * Spencer Plumridge as Chris Page *

Leslie Ash Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1997), ITV drama '' Where the Heart Is'' (2000–2003), and BBC medic ...

as Jill Page *

Hilda Fenemore Hilda Lilian Fenemore (22 April 1914 – 13 April 2004) was an English actress with a prolific career in film and television from the 1940s to the 1990s. Fenemore played mainly supporting roles which were characterised in her obituary in ''The ...

as Hilda Page *

Peter Halliday Peter Halliday (2 June 1924 – 18 February 2012) was a Welsh actor. Early life The son of an auctioneer and estate agent, Halliday was brought up in Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, and attended Oswestry School in Shropshire. On leaving school h ...

as Mr. Page *

Stanley Meadows Stanley Meadows (born 14 July 1931 in Stepney, London, England) is a British film and television actor. He graduated from RADA in 1955. Meadows made frequent appearances in British films and became something of a stalwart of British television ser ...

as Douglas * Lance Percival as Stanley Thornton *

Louis Mansi John Louis Mansi (born John Patrick Adams; 8 November 1926 – 6 August 2010) was a British television and film actor whose career spanned the years from the early 1950s to the early 1990s. Born in London to an Italian father and an Irish moth ...

as Desmond *

Clive Revill Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. ...

as Chico (voice) *

Alex Mackenzie Alex MacKenzie (1885 – December 1965) was a Scottish character actor who was born and died in Glasgow. He was a schoolteacher in Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north ba ...

as the All-Father (hair) Director:

Jonathan Ingrams Jonathan may refer to: * Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

Theme song

At the end of each episode, the words to the them song would be shown so you could sing along.

''Chico Chico the rainmaker, '' ''Chico Chico the rainmaker,'Chico Chico the rainmaker,'' ''Chico Paco Baca Wana make the rain!'' ''Chico I'm such a little fella,'' ''When I'm around you better get your umbrella,'' ''As I start to sway and my eyes go flash,'' ''The heavens open wide with a mighty crash!''

External links

* * DevilDead.com French entr

* Video Clip of the Opening Credits and theme music on YouTub

* Listing at the Children's Film and Television Foundatio

British children's films 1970s children's films 1970s British films {{UK-tv-prog-stub 1970s British children's television series