New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

Follow Me

• 2009 Oscars
• District 13: Ultimatum **1/2
• From Paris with Love **1/2
• Edge of Darkness **
• Fish Tank ***1/2
• Legion **
• When in Rome *
• More

• Adam
• The Bourne Identity [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
• The Bourne Supremacy [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
• The Bourne Ultimatum [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
• The House of the Devil
• Import Export
• More Than a Game
• Ong-Bak 2
• Zombieland
• The 25 Best DVDs of 2009
• More

• 2009: The Year's Ten Best Films
• The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
• My 2003 Interview with Brittany Murphy
• San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
• Richard Linklater
• John Woo
• Jared and Jerusha Hess
• Essential Halloween Movies
• Michael Stuhlbarg
• Jane Campion
• Bobcat Goldthwait
• Hugh Dancy
• Kathryn Bigelow
• Willem Dafoe: The 2009 CineVegas Interview
• David Carradine
• A 2002 Interview with Edward Asner
• Vinessa Shaw
• Henry Selick
• 2008: The Year's Ten Best Films
• The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
• The 25 Best DVDs of 2008
• Bruce Campbell
• Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei
• Josh Brolin
• A Tribute to Paul Newman
• Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
• Manny Farber (1917-2008)
• Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
• Emily Mortimer
• Brad Anderson
• Don Cheadle at CineVegas
• Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
• Tina Sinatra
• My Top 100 Films [Updated]
• My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
• The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
• Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
• Alfonso Cuarón Interview
• Guillermo Del Toro Interview
• Christmas Movies
• Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
• Cult Movies
• Actress Interview Gallery
• The Top 100
• More Features and Interviews

• Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
• James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
• Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
• Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
• Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
• Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
• A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
• Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
• Agee on Film, by James Agee
• Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
• Negative Space, by Manny Farber
• 5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
• More Books

• Home
• Reviews A-C
• Reviews D-F
• Reviews G-J
• Reviews K-M
• Reviews N-Q
• Reviews R-T
• Reviews U-Z

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Fear Strikes Out (1957)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Pitch Perfect

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Fear Strikes Out on DVD.

Before they hit the big time with To Kill a Mockingbird, director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan J. Pakula made this realistic, stripped-down, black-and-white baseball story. Anthony Perkins gives a great, twitchy performance as Jimmy Piersall, the real-life outfielder who lands a coveted spot on the Boston Red Sox. But the strain of getting there -- plus the relentless pushing of his father (Karl Malden) -- knocks him over the edge and into a nervous breakdown. The lanky Perkins actually has a pretty good throwing arm, but sports a funny batting stance. Apparently, the real Piersall renounced the film due to its misrepresentation of the facts. Paramount's disc has no extras.

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore, Adam Williams, Perry Wilson, Peter J. Votrian
Written by: Ted Berkman, Raphael Blau, Al Hirshberg, basedon the book by Jimmy Piersall
Directed by: Robert Mulligan
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 100 minutes
Date: April 10, 2003