The Sky Pilot arrives in a small rough-and-tumble cattle town in the north, intent on bringing religion to its tough residents. At first they reject him, but in time he wins the residents over with his prowess. A plot to steal cattle is uncovered and disrupted. Gwen, daughter of the "Old Timer," is injured in a stampede, loses her ability to walk, but recovers thanks to the power of love.
The Sky Pilot was filmed in part at Vidor's new studio, "Vidor Village" and marked a break from the “stage-bound” feature The Family Honor, a comedy-romance he had just completed for First National exhibitors. Shot largely in the High Sierra near Truckee, California, this big budget western was plagued by uncooperative weather. Costly efforts to create “authentic” landscapes on location produced budget overruns diminishing the profitability of the film. First National released the picture but declined to finance any further film projects by Vidor. These financial setbacks signaled the demise of King Vidor Productions. Courts ordered the dismantling of Vidor Village, and though Vidor would briefly regain control of the studio operations there were not revived. He sold the property in January 1923. Vidor and his leading lady, Colleen Moore, fell in love during the filming of The Sky Pilot. Vidor and Moore would pursue their “legendary” love affair until 1924. Married at the time to his childhood sweetheart and film actressFlorence Vidor, Vidor and his spouse were divorced in 1926.
Theme
The film serves to showcase Vidor's faith in the power of positive thinking, free of puritanism or Christian moralizing, which celebrates the virtues of self-reliance and the inherent vitality of rural communities. The precise theme of the film remains ambiguous. Vidor attempts to entertain the audience with a light farce and sanctimoniously impress them with spectacular natural scenery, the latter “which is closest to Vidor’s heart.” The redemptive value of “individualist” faith provides a subtext for the movie, as John Bowers as the manly Sky Pilot adroitly converts local ruffians to Christian-like virtues. When cowboy Bill Hendricks is bested by the Sky Pilot in a fist fight he confesses: “When a man’s religion will let him do what you done and live, there must something in it.”
