Fear Strikes Out (1957)

True story of the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball.

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Ted Berkman (screenplay), Raphael Blau (screenplay),

Stars:

Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Anthony Perkins	...	Jim Piersall
Karl Malden	...	John Piersall
Norma Moore	...	Mary Piersall
Adam Williams	...	Doctor Brown
Perry Wilson	...	Mrs. John Piersall
Peter J. Votrian	...	Jim Piersall as a Boy

Storyline

Jim Piersall is groomed by his loving but hard-driving father (living vicariously through his son) to play major league baseball. His desire to succeed to please his father leads to mental illness and a nervous breakdown. Can he overcome those difficulties and return to the major leagues?

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Plot Keywords:

baseball | mental illness | louisville kentucky | doctor | high school | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 August 1957 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Jim Piersall Story

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real Jimmy Piersall disowned the movie due to its distortion of the facts.

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Goofs

When Jimmy Piersall is taking the field in his high school state championship game, he's wearing #37. When the team is in the locker room after the game, another player on his team is also wearing #37.

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Connections

Referenced in 3rd Rock from the Sun: Dick Strikes Out (2000)

User Reviews

Baseball Father -- Stage Mother

As a previous reviewer said Anthony Perkins did not exactly look like Frank Merriwell out on the field during the baseball scenes, but the film is about the true story of Boston Red Sox centerfielder Jimmy Piersall who sustained a nervous breakdown and then came back to have a pretty respectable major league career.

Showing the personal road Piersall took towards that breakdown is where Anthony Perkins gives one of his great film performances. This film is a lot like I'll Cry Tomorrow where Jo Van Fleet was pushing the career of her daughter Susan Hayward as Lillian Roth so she could have the success that her daughter had vicariously.

That's where the other great performance in the film comes in. Karl Malden is the baseball father, someone with the same dreams, that his son become a major league ballplayer. Malden's success involved being on his factory team, he wanted more and when he couldn't have it drove his son relentlessly to learn the skills and make the grade. But it was some price for Piersall to pay.

I remember Jimmy Piersall as a player when I was a lad. He played for the Red Sox in the years of the Casey Stengel Yankee juggernaut. He was a good contact hitter, didn't hit much for power, but played a flawless centerfield. The Red Sox in the Fifties had little to cheer about. There was a pitching staff of Mel Parnell and a bunch of nobodies. There infield was from hunger with the exception of third baseman Frank Malzone who came up in 1956 the last year Parnell played. But the outfield gave New England something to cheer about with Piersall in center, Jackie Jensen in right, and Ted Williams playing with his back to the Green Monster in left. Piersall covered so much ground in center field he made it real easy on both Williams and Jensen. The Red Sox let him go to the expansion Los Angeles Angels in 1961 where he finished his career. Still he's a Red Sox legend.

The story had been previously done on TV's Climax Theater with Tab Hunter as Piersall. In his recent memoirs Tab said that he had hoped to do the screen version. At the time he was involved in a relationship with Anthony Perkins. Unbeknownst to Hunter, Perkins lobbied and got the part in the film. That sort of put a damper on the relationship.

I also echo other reviewers in wishing that some of Piersall's teammates and others in the Red Sox organization had been portrayed. Only Joe Cronin who was the General Manager at the time is shown on the screen. Legendary owner Tom Yawkey is not portrayed and that is a pity.

Interestingly enough Piersall may have gotten his chance with the Red Sox because of Joe Cronin's racist policies. The Red Sox were the last team in the major leagues to integrate. I remember that very well when Pumpsie Green became their first black player two years after Fear Strikes Out was released.

Fear Strikes Out is unfortunately a two person show with Perkins and Malden the only really developed characters in the film. But those are two very talented persons indeed.