Fear Strikes Out (1957)

• Director
  • Robert Mulligan
• Writers
  • Ted Berkman(screenplay)
  • Raphael Blau(screenplay)
  • Jimmy Piersall(based on the story by)
• Stars
  • Anthony Perkins
  • Karl Malden
  • Norma Moore

  Anthony Perkins stars as troubled baseball great Jimmy Piersall in Fear Strikes Out. Based on Piersall's shattering tell-all autobiography, the film traces Jimmy's ascent from the sandlots of Waterbury, CT, to the Boston Red Sox, with his domineering father (Karl Malden) pushing the boy beyond all reasonable limits. Unable to withstand the pressure, Piersall suffers a nervous breakdown and is confined to a mental institution. Through a long period of therapy, Jimmy realizes that he has excelled in baseball not for his own gratification but to please his father. This film was preceded by a 1956 TV version starring Tab Hunter.