''Chico the Rainmaker'' (also known as ''The Boy with Two Heads'') is a 1974

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

seven-part serial film directed by Jonathan Ingrams starring Spencer Plumridge,

Leslie Ash Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Quadrophenia'' (1979), ITV series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom '' Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), drama '' Where the Heart ...

and

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 ...

. It was made by Eyeline Films for the

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) is a non-profit organisation which makes films and other media for children in the United Kingdom. Originally it made films to be shown as part of children's Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. Th ...

. Two children discover a South American

shrunken head A shrunken head is a severed and specially-prepared human head with the skull removed many times smaller than its original size that is used for trophy, ritual, trade, or other purposes. Headhunting is believed to have occurred in many regi ...

with magical powers.

Plot

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 who knows it to be priceless. Two thieves 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

* Spencer Plumridge as Chris Page *

as Jill Page *

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 ...

as Mr. Page *

Stanley Meadows Stanley Meadows (born 14 July 1931 in Stepney, London, England) is a retired British film and television actor. Meadows was the son of a shopowner in Stepney Green. He won a scholarship to Forest School, in Epping Forest, and eventually graduate ...

as Douglas *

Lance Percival John Lancelot Blades Percival (26 July 1933 – 6 January 2015), known as Lance Percival, was an English actor, comedian and singer, best known for his appearances in satirical comedy television shows of the early 1960s and his ability to impr ...

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 Selsby Revill (18 April 1930 – 11 March 2025) was a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he also starred in numerous films and television ...

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 () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Cly ...

as the All-Father (hair)

Theme song

At the end of each episode, the words to the theme 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!''

Release

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 educat ...

in the USA, and shown in British cinemas in the 1970s and 1980s as part of their "Saturday Matinees". 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 ...

as a 7-part serial in the mid-1970s on Saturday afternoons.

References

External links

*
Opening credits and theme music
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''Chico the Rainmaker''
listing at the Children's Film and Television Foundation *
Chico the Rainmaker
' review at DevilDead.com (archived 16 July 2011 from th
original
British children's films 1974 children's films 1970s British films 1970s British children's television series {{UK-kids-tv-prog-stub Children's Film Foundation