looking after all the finances, even paying Allison (Bernadette Peters), a prostitute. Spurred by a taunt from his father, Rodger flies their aircraft solo, even managing a bouncy landing. Shelby and Eli carry on a tempestuous relationship, but when Shelby is confronted by Eli's strident professions of love, she brutally ends the affair. Trying to comfort Rodger, for whom she truly cares, she is shunned and leaves. Eli ultimately accepts that his running away and dragging his son along on an aimless journey through Kansas is not good for either himself or his young son. Abandoning the barnstorming tour, the pair of aviators make their way back to their former home, where people still love them. Cast Cliff Robertson as Ace Eli Walford Pamela Franklin as Shelby Eric Shea as Rodger Walford Bernadette Peters as Allison Rosemary Murphy as Hannah Alice Ghostley as Sister Lite Royal Dano as Jake Kelly Jean Peters as Rachel Don Keefer as Mr. Parsons Patricia Smith as Mrs. Wilma Walford Herb Gatlin as Frank Savage Arthur Malet as Brother Watson Ariana Chase as Betty Jo (credited as Ariane Munker) Hope Summers as Laura Jim Boles as Abraham Lew Brown as Harris Robert Hamm as Dumb Dickie Brent Hurst as Jeffrey Rodger Peck as Leroy Jan Simms as Mrs. Parsons Dixie Lee as Mrs. Harrison Claudia Bryar as Ann Felicity Van Runkle as Linette Pat O'Connor as Brother Foster Bill Quinn as Mortician Production Steven Spielberg had developed the story of a flyer with a young son, containing themes that interested him: aircraft and flying and parental responsibility. He developed the premise with fellow Cal State alumni Claudia Salter, and hoped to direct it himself, but Richard D. Zanuck, who was then the president of 20th Century Fox, declined to hire Spielberg as director. Producers Robert Fryer and James Cresson hired John Erman to direct because he was older. The film originally ended with Eli committing suicide, but the studio recut it to give it a happier ending. Spielberg was so displeased by the film that he publicly complained it had been "turned into a really sick film. They should bury it." Spielberg would not make a film for Twentieth Century Fox until 2002's Minority Report (even then, this was a co-production with DreamWorks). Fryer, Cresson, Erman and Salter disapproved of the final edit of the film, which was extensively re-cut, and had their names removed.