Skyward (1980)

Starring: Bette Davis, Howard Hesseman, Marion Ross

Skyward is a 1980 GE Theatre presentation in the lofty tradition of TV's Golden Age. Bette Davis stars (what an inadequate word!) as a 60-year-old retired barnstorming airplane pilot. Real-life paraplegic Suzy Gilstrap portrays a wheelchair-bound team who is "tired of looking up all the time." It is her dream to become a pilot herself, a goal renounced by her overprotective parents and her self-centered boyfriend. But Davis, after initial heated protestations, agrees to train Gilstrap in the rigors of flying--specifically stunt-flying. Directed by Ron Howard, Skyward was produced and cowritten by Howard's Happy Days costar Anson Williams, while another Happy Days alumnus, Marion Ross, appears as Suzy Gilstrap's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide