Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies
1973 film by John Erman
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies is a 1973 American adventure comedy film directed by John Erman from a screenplay by Claudia Salter. The film centers on a barnstorming pilot (Cliff Robertson) and his son (Eric Shea) as they fly around the United States in the 1920s, having adventures along the way. One of the driving forces behind the production, Robertson was a real life pilot, although Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Tallman flew most of the aerial scenes. The film was the first feature credit for filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who wrote the story.
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies was released in the United States on April 1, 1973, by 20th Century Fox.
Plot
In the early 1920s, Eli is a barnstorming stunt pilot in Kansas. When flying with his wife Wilma, Eli crashes into a barn. He survives by being thrown into a haystack, but his wife is killed. He has to raise his 11-year-old son Rodger on his own. While Eli is the parent, his young son is often the more mature.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies” as 1973 film by John Erman. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1973 film by John Erman. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4672974. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies primary sources, Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies archive and Rodger research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.