The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
In the world of 1930s Negro League baseball, a spirited team of renegade players travels around the Midwest looking for that one big score. Richard Pryor, Billy Dee Williams, and James Earl Jones star as three barnstorming ballplayers who take on prejudice and their own League's unfair rules while stealing cars, food and home base - anything to prove that they're the best team around. It's a showdown of brains over booby traps and sportsmanship over racial segregation as Bingo Long's All-Stars swing their way into a winning season;.
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Considering the cast and the talent involved with this, a terrible disappointment, could have been so much better if only the director had gotten control of james earl, made him act instead of ham it up, and fire whoever cut it and put someone in who understood continuity. Generally a sorry excuse for a production-and for that there is no excuse.
I love this movie! Bet I've seen it 15 times and its always fun and a chance to see some great stars in unusual roles. Billie Dee Wiliams as Bingo Long is a great inspiration for "sticktuitiveness"; James Earl Jones appears here in a totally new light - who knew he could be a comedian as well as one of our best serious actors. What to say about Richard Pryor in all his multiple guises here? Just terrific! The supporting cast is strong - no weak links! I grew up in a segregated South so I really get what this movie is all about. Its replicates a piece of history not covered in the social studies books. The costuming and musical score is worth it even if you decide you don't like to movie.
One of the best baseball comedies mainly because of its very real and believable dramatic points. It also deals with a subject that has rarely been touched on in film: the Negro Leagues. The cast is absolutely incredible. Top to bottom a list of legends field this magnificent flick! James Earl Jones fits his aging sluggers role superbly and who better to serve up a ripping hot fastball than Billy Dee Williams! Richard Pryor gets high marks for his "faux-latino" Charlie Snow whose only reason for being on the team is because he has a nice car. Pryor also has a racey scene with a white prostitute and two paid hit men. Special mention of Carl Gordon who has a small role here. I loved him as the Dad on the great but all too short lived sitcom "Roc." Who gonna hit my invite pitch? Nobody. Not no one. Never. Bingo Long is the stuff of modern folklore. Invite pitch! Invite pitch! Invite pitch! A LOST BASEBALL CLASSIC. A great double feature would be "A League Of Their Own."
This offbeat little film tells the story of a team at the tail-end of the Negro Leagues and their struggle to fight the corrupt ownership of the league. It is similar in tone to "A League of Their Own" but came earlier and is less glossy and, in my opinion, more fun. There are some good points made in it about racism and the athlete as commodity, but the film doesn't take itself too seriously and is never preachy or heavy-handed. It's an easy-going film which is great fun to watch. The cast is fantastic--Billy Dee Williams was never smoother or more charming, James Earl Jones appears to be having the time of his life, and the supporting cast is full of young versions of actors who went on on to bigger things. If you are used to seeing Jones only as a grand elder statesman of acting, check out this film where he plays his role with a lot of humor and energy and a sexy twinkle in his eye.