Movie poster for the release of the new film "42: The True Story of an American Legend."

Carl Erskine, a Brooklyn Dodgers teammate of Jackie Robinson, will attend an April 11 special advance public screening at the Mounds Mall theater of the film “42” about Robinson’s baseball life. Proceeds will benefit the Special Olympics.

The film details Robinson’s Rookie of the Year season as Major League baseball’s first black player, combating racism on and off the field. It will open in theaters across the country the following day.

The Warner Brothers film stars Chad Boseman as Robinson, and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers president and general manager who signed Robinson, breaking the barrier of racial segregation that prevailed for 60 years in Major League baseball.

Erskine, 86, of Anderson, was a standout pitcher for the Dodgers during the Robinson era, which included winning five National League pennants and the 1955 World Series. Erskine wrote a book about playing with Robinson and is an advocate of the Special Olympics.

“We played nine seasons together, and we were battling to win ballgames for our team side-by-side,” Erskine said of Robinson. “That team jelled with Jackie as the centerpiece. We made baseball history. Now, looking back, that experience is a part of the history of the country.”

A reception with Erskine will precede the special local showing of the film, which gets its name from Robinson’s uniform No. 42, which is retired on all Major League teams and displayed prominently at the various stadiums.

Details for this story were provided by the Anderson, Ind., Herald Bulletin.