The Adventures of Chico
Cast & Crew
Stacy Woodard
Chico
Dr. Edward Kelenyi
Horace Woodard
Horace Woodard
Horace Woodard
Film Details
Synopsis
Chico, the young son of a Mexican quail trapper, lives in the desert with his father. With no human companions other than his father, Chico amuses himself observing and playing with the animals near their hut. Chico is especially fond of a family of chapparal cocks and is saddened when a coyote kills the mother bird. After burying the mother, Chico gathers food for the baby birds and cares for them for many weeks. One day, Chico finds the nest empty and realizes that the now grown birds have flown away. He feels abandoned until one of the birds goes to him. The two become inseparable companions. When Chico sits beside his hut to take an afternoon siesta, the bird sees a rattlesnake sliding towards the boy. After an exhausting fight, the bird kills the snake just before it is about to strike at Chico. Awakening, Chico fears for the bird, but when he realizes that the bird has not been hurt, he happily calls it his true "paesano" for saving his life.
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Onscreen credit for the Woodards reads, "Produced, Directed and Photographed by Stacy and Horace Woodard." Accoding to reviews, the picture was filmed entirely on location in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. It is narrated by a voice supposed to be that of Chico's. According to an undated note in the AMPAS Library file on the film, the picture was originally released abroad in 1937. A New York preview of the film was held on February 21, 1938. Most reviews were based on this preview. Reviews noted that the Woodards were well regarded filmmakers who had won Oscars for short films in 1933 and 1934. They also noted that Horace Woodard had been the cameraman on Pare Lorentz's 1937 short documentary The River. The chapparal cock is also known as a roadrunner.
