Review of Hot Lead & Cold Feet (1978) by Edith N — 19 Sep 2007

Disney pulls out all the cliches for this one, kids. We've got the separated-at-birth twins, where one's wild and the other's a goody-two-shoes (a trainee minister, yet!). We've got the fish-out-of-water plot. We've got two spunky kids, and two spunky kids being cared for by someone other than a parent, at that. The goody-two-shoes is half pursing, half pursued by a spunky woman. And, of course, they're being done in by crooked men who want their money, which could be used for the betterment of the town.

Still, it has its moments. There's a running subplot wherein Don Knotts is attempting to fight a duel with Jack Elam. Hilarity keeps ensuing, as hilarity is wont to do in this sort of film. The spunky schoolmarm is also the spunky bride-to-be from [i]North Avenue Irregulars[/i], but in this, she doesn't have to deal with an evil mother-in-law-to-be. As is par for the Disney course, she's dealing with a passel of orphans.

Except not, since her beloved's father's faking his own death, of course. They never do find that out, but it's all a ploy to see both of his sons together for the first time since they were infants.

Yes, it's one tired old plot after another, and yet it's still funny. Cute. Not original, not by a long shot. And not clever, either. But cute. The kids are pretty clever when they need to be, and they're not as annoying as a lot of others. Not remotely. The ending's not bad. Not [i]surprising[/i], but not bad.

I review a lot of second- and third-rate Disney live-action stuff here, I know, and it's good of all of you who actually bother reading the reviews. I don't really expect any of you to run right out and pick up [i]Hot Lead and Cold Feet[/i], though there are certainly worse movies out there. But if the Disney Channel gets its act together again and starts playing their old stuff, and it happens to be on, maybe you'll take a look, huh? Or the Hallmark Channel might show it, which seems more likely.