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.
Cliff Robertson
as Ace Eli Walford
Eric Shea
as Roger Walford
Pamela Franklin
as Shelby
Rosemary Murphy
as Hannah
Bernadette Peters
as Allison
Alice Ghostley
as Sister Lite
Kelly Jean Peters
as Rachel
Don Keefer
as Mr. Parsons
Patricia Smith
as Mrs. Wilma Walford
Royal Dano
as Jake
Robert Hamm
as Dumb Dickie
Herb Gatlin
as Frank Savage
