"Fear Strikes Out" is a 1957 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

depicting the life and career of American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized ba ...

. It is based on Piersall's 1955 memoir ''Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story'', co-written with Al Hirshberg. The film stars

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influentia ...

as Piersall and

Karl Malden Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...

as his father, and it was the first directed by

Robert Mulligan Robert Patrick Mulligan (August 23, 1925 – December 20, 2008) was an American director and producer. He is best known for his humanist dramas, including ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' Summer of '42'' (1971), ''The Other'' (1972), '' Same ...

. This film is a Paramount Picture and was preceded by a 1955 TV version starring

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...

.Erickson, Hal
Rovi "Fear Strikes Out" Synopsis
/ref> The format of the film allows documentary footage of the stadium scenes to be used during the game sequences.

Plot

Based on Piersall's autobiography, the film traces Piersall's rise from the sandlots of

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

professional baseball team.

plays his domineering father who pushes him further and further. Plagued by problems, Jim marries Mary but they live with his parents. When he is eventually is chosen for the

it is in the infield position of

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for which he has little experience. He calls his father to apologise. Daunted by the huge crowd and the pressure of his father watching his first time at-bat, the pressure nearly causes Jim to strike out. But on the final pitch, he hits a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. Rather than celebrate in a normal way, he instead runs to the backstop fence where his father sits shouting "look dad, I told you I could do it". His teammates try to restrain him as he climbs the fence. He swings his bat at them. Eventually the police subdue him, and he is taken to a

mental institution Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

. After a long period of

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

, Jim realizes that he has excelled in baseball to please his father — not for his own gratification. He went on to play 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967.

Cast

as Jim Piersall *

as John Piersall *Norma Moore as Mary Piersall * Adam Williams as Dr. Brown * Perry Wilson as Mrs. Piersall *Peter J. Votrian as young Jim Piersall * Richard Bull as Reporter Slade (uncredited) *

Bart Burns George Joseph Burns (born March 13, 1918 in New York City – died July 17, 2007, in West Hills, Los Angeles, California) was an American character actor. He is known mostly for playing Pat Chambers on the 1959 '' Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'' te ...

Joe Cronin Joseph Edward Cronin (October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop, most notably as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Cronin spe ...

(uncredited) *

Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series '' 77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Gr ...

as Boy in Car Assisting Jimmy Up Stairway (uncredited) *

Art Gilmore Arthur Wells Gilmore, known as Art Gilmore (March 18, 1912 – September 25, 2010) was an American actor and announcer heard on radio and television programs, children's records, movies, trailers, radio commercials, and documentary films. He also ...

as Broadcaster (voice, uncredited) * Brian G. Hutton as Bernie Serwill (uncredited) * Morgan Jones as Sandy Allen (uncredited) * Bing Russell as Ballplayer Holding Trophy (uncredited) *

Gary Vinson Gary Vinson (October 22, 1936 – October 15, 1984) was an American actor who appeared in significant roles in three television series of the 1960s: '' The Roaring 20s'', ''McHale's Navy'', and ''Pistols 'n' Petticoats''. Early years Vinson was ...

as High School Ballplayer (uncredited)

1955 TV version

The film was based on the book by Piersall which had been adapted for TV in 1955 for the show ''Climax!''. Rights to the book were bought in July 1955. The ''New York Times'' called it "absorbing" and praised

's portrayal of Jimmy Piersall as "perceptive and believable." Hunter had a romantic relationship with Anthony Perkins. He says this relationship was strained after Perkins took the role of Piersall in the film version.

Awards and honors

was a

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Best Director nominee. ''Fear Strikes Out'' was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2008 list in the sports film category.

Reception

In 1957,

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''The New York Times'' wrote: Dr. Sharon Packer wrote in 2012 that ''Fear Strikes Out'' is very unusual in cinematic history in that it portrays

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...

in a positive light.

Notes

External links

*
1955 TV version
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{Robert Mulligan 1957 films 1950s biographical drama films 1950s sports drama films American biographical drama films American baseball films Biographical films about sportspeople American black-and-white films Boston Red Sox 1950s English-language films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films based on biographies Films directed by Robert Mulligan Films set in Boston Films set in Massachusetts Paramount Pictures films Sports films based on actual events Cultural depictions of baseball players Cultural depictions of American men American sports drama films 1957 directorial debut films 1957 drama films 1950s American films