Fear Strikes Out

Fear Strikes Out (1957)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (20 reviews)

  • 63% of users liked it
    (1,103 ratings)

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… More

Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By
Robert Mulligan
Written By
Jimmy Piersall, Ted Berkman, Raphael Blau, Al Hirshberg
Genres
Drama, Classics
In Theaters
Mar 20, 1957 Wide
On DVD
Mar 4, 2003
Paramount Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly

    Fear holds up well, and the climactic showdown between father and son offers a tremendously appealing resolution.

  • , TIME Magazine

    Fear Strikes Out rolls Frank Merriwell and Sigmund Freud into a ball and then lines it out for a solid hit.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Anthony Perkins, in the young Piersall role, delivers a remarkably sustained performance of a sensitive young man, pushed too fast to the limits of his ability to cope with life's pressures.

  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times

    Mr. Perkins plays the young fellow excellently, not only conveying the gathering torment but also actually looking like a ballplayer on the field.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    Absorbing, but rather clinical, in the rubber-gloves style of 50s television drama.

Read all 15 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • jay n


    Very moving tale with extremely well cast leads. Perkins twitchy nervous energy is perfect for displaying Piersall spiral into mental illness and Malden's bombastic personality is able to convey a man who crushes his son's spirit without even realizing it. The look on his… More

  • AJ V


    Perkins is perfect in this role of a crazy baseball player. And Malden does a great job playing his dad. Plus, it's a true story. I liked it it's a very dramatic movie.

  • Randy T


    Anthony Perkins seems to do his best work when playing psychotic characters.

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