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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Safe, pleasant, silly Disney western, November 26, 2006
Pioneering old man Jasper Bloodshy presumably - strong emphasis on the word `presumably' - leaps off a cliff to his death. His will is read and, to the surprise of all, it mentions a second son. The old man's fortune will go to either gunslinging son Wild Billy or his Philadelphia sibling, `tambourine thumping' missionary Eli, depending on who wins a frontier version of an iron man race.
HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET is a featherweight comedy/western produced by the Disney factory in 1978. The three Bloodshys are all played by British actor Jim Dale. Wild Billy is impossibly bad, Eli impossibly good, and old man Jasper takes an awful lot of pratfalls. Come to think of it, everyone takes at least one pratfall here, but Jasper seems to do it most often and from higher places. In any event, Eli (with two young orphaned children in tow, natch) travels west from Philly to the wild and rambunctious town of Bloodshy to compete in the race, become determined to clean up the town, and falls in love with the town's new school teacher, Karen Valentine. The movie is a series of slapstick routines, with some serious, unstressed undertones - the kids want a father, Eli wants to bring civilization to a lawless town. The slapstick and roughhousing is of the gentlest variety. Every five feet or so there's either a fistfight or a rowdy firing off his six-shooter, but no blood is ever spilt, no bullets ever find flesh. All things considered, this is about as gentle as they come.
The supporting cast is pretty strong. Although Don Knotts seems to be prominently featured in most of the posters and dvd jackets, his role is fairly small. He's the nervous sheriff of Bloodshy, and his biggest scenes come when he squares off against Rattlesnake (Jack Elam). They growl, grumble, and glare at each other, but something always seems to happen after they've separated themselves from each other by ten paces, counted to three and reached for their guns. Why they want to blast each other to oblivion is never explained, but their scenes together are entertaining enough.
HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET is about as family-friendly as they get. Like most Disney movies of this type it'll be best appreciated by the pre-teens in the family, and adults who don't need to be challenged by a movie. Teen-agers and young adults will probably find this one insufferably corny. A safe bet for family night at the home theater.
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