Tête brûlée et pied tendre

Western comedy about the twins brothers who never know each other, one bad and one good, his sick father supposedly died left to them a lot of money, however according the will has to be a contest between them, the winner takes all, the contest are many, the first one locomotive racing, second canoe racing on rapids, climb mountain, pass through over the canyon on tightrope and the last carriage chase, has a subplot more interesting a endless duel over Sheriff Denver Kid vs. Rattlesnake, since the beginning they have been trying make this duel, nonetheless something disrupt and postpone it, amusing Disney family comedy, with Don Knots, Jack Elam, Darren McGavin, John Williams and Jim Dale on triple role, not bad at all, be ready to laugh a lot!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7

British comedian Jim Dale was starring in a lot of Walt Disney films that Dean Jones was apparently unavailable for in the Seventies. One of them was this western comedy Hot Lead And Cold Feet where Dale got to play three different roles where he tread on Alec Guinness territory.

Dale plays a father with two twin sons, one of them taken by their mother when she split from Dale. The one who stayed with Dale became a notorious gunfighter, the other was raised in Philadelphia and served in the army that General Booth started. I imagine that there were legal technicalities that prevented Disney Studios from outrightly saying it was the Salvation Army.

In any event the father fakes his own death and there is a will that leaves the holdings of an entire town to the winner of a race that the two sons have to participate in. So the missionary Dale finds out when he goes west with two young orphans Debbie Lytton and Michael Sharrett. It's a kind old west marathon with a pentathlon of sorts involved as well. Gunfighter Dale of course is ready to do in his missionary brother. But a certain divine hand of Providence seems to be watching over the missionary. Definitely has to be because he's also getting new school teacher Karen Valentine in the bargain.

Don Knotts as the sheriff and Jack Elam a notorious former outlaw whose best days are behind him provide a few laughs. Ever since Knotts was Barney Fife he was always being cast as comic authority figures. And there's Darren McGavin who has his own ideas about the Dale fortune should be used for.

With so many familiar and talented faces in the cast of Hot Lead And Cold Feet you know it's going to be good. Dale does a wonderful job investing the father and three sons he plays with a certain individuality in each role. This film is still good family entertainment.

This lively comedy-Western from Disney is largely a vehicle for the talented British comic Jim Dale, who is given the opportunity to play three roles. Jasper Bloodshy, an ornery old fart who created a town in his name, his hell raising outlaw son Wild Billy, and a son, Eli, who nobody but Jasper knew about. Eli has been working as a missionary in Philadelphia, and comes to Bloodshy when Jasper apparently perishes. The old man had a will, but the proviso is that the two sons / heirs compete in a series of gruelling races before things are settled. However, the greedy mayor (Darren McGavin) schemes to get the money for himself, with the help of various bumbling goons.

Oddly enough, it's when we get to the climactic race that the movie loses some of the momentum that it's built up. While the action and the stunts are first rate, the material just isn't as humorous. A shame, because up until then, everything is played quite speedily and breathlessly. The fact that the town is basically a lawless place allows for a lot of chaos.

The star laden cast easily give it everything that they've got. Don Knotts is right at home in one of his standard bumbling authority figures, complete with all of the comic actors' nervous tics and reactions. Jack Elam is perfectly cast as his nemesis. Karen Valentine (as an aspiring schoolteacher) and Debbie Lytton & Michael Sharrett (as Eli's young charges) have plenty of appeal. McGavin is simply a wonderful slimeball villain. And Dale has a ball with his three very different roles, especially old coot Jasper, who must suffer several indignities as he spies on the proceedings with his long suffering butler (John Williams).

Beautiful scenery and a bouncy theme song help to make this pretty good, if not hysterical.

Seven out of 10.

Enjoyable.

'Hot Lead & Cold Feet' is good fun. The premise is bonkers but in a positive way, while the humour is much improved on what Disney usually produce in these sorta films. I actually liked every bit of the story, even if it is a tad all over the place. The only real issues I have with this are the effects and some of the pacing, the latter is quite slow around the midway mark.

Moving onto the cast. Jim Dale does a great job playing not one, not two but three characters! It's actually rather impressive, though the effects used for when Billy and Eli are 'next to each other' are rather poor. Still, big credit to Dale.

The film is basically split into three viewpoints: Billy & Eli, Jasper (Dale) & Mansfield (John Williams) and Sheriff (Don Knotts) & Rattlesnake (Jack Elam). Surprisingly, they make it work. I liked following all the shenanigans that they each got up to.

I also rate the music used. All in all, an entertaining film that I would definitely recommend.

Saw this years ago when I tended to spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. The Oregon forest in which this was shot looks like all of the parts of the Sierras and Rockies I ever spent time in. So when I first saw this film there was a kind of tangibleness to it that I was familiar with on a very intimate "dyed-in-the-wool" kind of way.

But even as a child I can't really say I was too amused by the antics of the characters. Oh sure, I saw and understood what they were all about, and accepted them for what they were, but I can't recall myself ever really laughing. "Hot Lead and Cold Feet" was made during a time when Disney higher-ups said that they had to re- examine their approach to film making because the kids in their focus group said that their films were corny.

Well, "Hot Lead and Cold Feet" isn't exactly "Citizen Kane" nor was it ever meant to be. And as fascinating as it was in a detached sort of almost clinical kind of way, it was still shot in that period when Disney was thinking of and needing to upgrade their feature film production. As such this 1970s film has a kind of retro-feel as if a 1950s Disney crew travelled to the 1970s and made a western. Because that's kind of how this movie feels, and in essence I'm pretty sure that's close to home.

The basic story of two brother from different sides of the tracks succumbing and overcoming the plot of a schemer is well enough, and the actors do their best to bring the script alive. Overall it's not a bad film, and unlike a lot of other live action Disney offerings at the time, this one doesn't have any split screen nor rear projection shots. It's all shot on location or on a fully dressed set, even though, again, it has that retro-feel so apparent with Disney films of that time.

It's not a bad film, but as boy for whom this film was meant, and having seen other comedies and westerns, I think this film is about average. Having seen it again after all these years, I think it's okay, but not really anything spectacular. Then again I've shot rapids, ridden horses, and been on steam trains as well as hiking and camping throughout North America, it's familiar territory to me.

I'm not sure I'd recommend it for today's school age audience, but maybe see it with your kids and see what they think.

Give it a shot.