“I decided to wear a jacket and a tie because I thought that’s what directors from the ’40s would wear and Bette Davis would like that …”

Also:

“Skyward was really the piece of film that convinced studios I could direct features.”

— Ron Howard

I can certainly see why. In the same way that I can see why that one episode of Eight is Enough would convince the powers-that-be in Hollywood that Ralph Macchio could carry a film as a romantic lead. Which, seriously, is not obvious on the face of it. He’s a scrawny little guy, and handsome, of course, but lots of people are handsome. He also wasn’t the lead inEight is Enough. Unless it was “his” episode, he was a minor character, face in the crowd. So who would have thought: Huh. That kid’s got something? Well, after that one episode I bet a couple of smart people in power did. Being given a LEAD in a film is no small feat, and perhaps looking at Macchio you would see your typical Teen Beat heartthrob, a dime a dozen. But he wasn’t. He was more than that, and he showed it in that episode.

And so you have to know what you’re looking for, to “see” a star. I was 12 years old when I saw that Eight is Enough episode, probably one or two weeks after damn Skyward came out (it was a busy year) and I felt it. I felt that thing, that magic.

So something like Skyward was Howard’s test, his “debut” – although he had done a couple things before. It showed a deftness with story, a knack for creating watchable characters, an obvious ability to deal with huge powerhouses like Bette Davis (very important for directors), a technical know-how to make those flying scenes come off, and – most important – a sense of how to move a large audience.

The germ of Ralph Macchio’s Karate Kid smash success is in that one episode of Eight is Enough. Not every little cutie-pie on a regular television series can carry a movie like he did … but you can see it already there. Now why isn’t Eight is Enough on DVD? I actually didn’t like the show at all – but I just want to own the Ralph Macchio season so I can check out that one episode again, which I haven’t seen since it first aired, but obviously (if you read my review of it) remember vividly.

Same thing with Ron Howard and Skyward.

I got these quotes from a television interview with Howard below (or part of it) – where he talks about his early years directing TV movies and how one thing led to another. Big conversation about Skyward. Fascinating details, especially about Bette Davis.