Fever Pitch (1985)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 0 · Nominations: 4

Fever Pitch is a 1985 American drama film written and directed by Richard Brooks and starring Ryan O'Neal, Giancarlo Giannini, Chad Everett, John Saxon, and Catherine Hicks. The film marked Brooks' final film before his death in 1992. The original score was composed by Thomas Dolby.

Production

Richard Brooks became interested in the national problem of gambling in America while he was recovering from a heart attack in 1983. He began researching the topic and wrote the script over two years. The movie was originally to be produced by Dino de Laurentiis under the title The Fever and Brooks wanted Sam Shepard to play the lead Steve Taggart. Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Tom Selleck were also considered for the lead role.

Dino De Laurentiis dropped out, and Ryan O'Neal was cast instead. MGM did not want to cast Ryan O'Neal, so Brooks agreed to waive his fee. O'Neal said "I enjoy working with Brooks, though I don’t always like the way he treats his crew." O'Neal said Fever Pitch "made me feel optimistic about my career again."

Filming took place from October 1984 to January 1985, and Brooks spent nine months editing the movie. The newspaper editorial office scenes were all filmed at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, which always had a popular horse racing page, and solid sports gambling coverage. Many Herald Examiner and Los Angeles Times staffers had small parts in Fever Pitch.

Regarding the controversial and critically panned ending, wherein sportswriter Taggart is able to clear all his gambling debts with one final lucky slot machine win, Brooks stated his rationale for the ending was that the gamblers he interviewed for research said they weren't interested in a movie about a gambling loser.

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