
Release Date
Original Release
March 31, 1973
1h 29m
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973)
Overview
The story of Ace Eli Walford, a 1920s stunt flyer who barnstorms around the country, taking his eleven-year-old son Rodger with him as he goes from town to town. The place is rural Kansas, and the time is midsummer in the early nineteen-twenties, not long after World War I. Eli (Cliff Robertson), a barn storming pilot who has the emotional make-up of an 11-year-old, and Rodger (Eric Shea), his 11-year-old son who possesses the wisdom of the ancients, set off to see the world, which means flying all the way to San Willow. To Eli, San Willow seems to be as fabled as Xanadu and quite as remote. In essence, "Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies" is about the adventures of Rodger and Eli getting from nowhere to nowhere. Eli, a killer with the ladies at first, always leaves them unsatisfied. He seems to have a sex problem. Rodger spends a lot of his time getting his dad out of scrapes. He also drinks, smokes and goes to sleep at night crying for his deceased mom.
Director

John Erman
Department: Directing
Cast

Cliff Robertson
Ace Eli Walford

Eric Shea
Roger Walford

Pamela Franklin
Shelby

Rosemary Murphy
Hannah

Bernadette Peters
Allison

Alice Ghostley
Sister Lite

Kelly Jean Peters
Rachel

Don Keefer
Mr. Parsons

Patricia Smith
Mrs. Wilma Walford

Royal Dano
Jake
Genres
Production Companies
