FEAR STRIKES OUT has to be the classic compulsive "sports Dad" movie. I think every father with a son in sports should be required to see this film--especially after what we've seen recently with regard to parents in fist fights at their sons' Little League games. If ever there was an overbearing, driving patriarchal figure trying to live out his past inadequacies through his son in sports, Jimmy Piersall's father was he. In fact, I watch this movie not so much for the Jimmy Piersall story so much as to see Karl Malden's portrayal of John Piersall! Of course, we don't know how much is embellished, but if Mr. Piersall was even half of what is depicted in this movie, it is little wonder that Jimmy Piersall once hit a home run and ran around the bases backwards...
Could anyone play a more iron-fisted character than Karl Malden? Watch PARRISH (1963) or BOMBERS B-52 sometime to see the equal of Piersall's Dad in FEAR STRIKES OUT. And Piersall's mother? Again, no one knows how accurate the depiction is, but she is a ghost presence and if that is true, it's just another nail in Piersall's psychological coffin.
Even watching this movie as a kid, I was uncomfortable seeing Piersall pounded cruelly again and again by his Dad to do better, to go higher, to do more. Once he's romanced by The Boston Red Sox, Mr. Piersall becomes Jimmy's indispensable "advisor." All of this grows until Jimmy can do nothing without consulting Dad. The result is his father's eternal presence between his ears and the classic breakdown scene at the park when Piersall climbs the fence, an unforgettable moment, especially if you see this as an adolescent.
Reviews concerning Anthony Perkins'lack of athletic ability always come up when this movie is discussed. Actually, this was characteristic of most sports movie bio's back in the 1940's and 1950's. Watch William Bendix as Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander, or Dan Daily as Dizzy Dean. Routine throwing and catching resembles something you used to see a "nerd" do at school recess. And this movie quirk wasn't present in baseball films only.
I've always wondered just who this movie is about: Jimmy Piersall or his father? The scene in which the psychiatrist confronts Mr. Piersall at the sanitarium is painful and very sad. I've also always wondered just what Piersall's thoughts must have been when this movie hit the screens: for his was still active in the major leagues. How many teams did Jimmy Piersall play for? How many fist fights? And his announcing career? Full of controversy. Maybe it would have all happened without John Piersall, but it is doubtful. Next time a boy wishes his father was more into sports, remind him of John Piersall.
Exhibit 'A' for all fathers living vicariously through the sports achievements of their sons.
Dennis Caracciolo
