The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Hal Barwood (writer)
William Brashler (novel)

Release Date:

17 November 1976 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

They put the ball in baseball.

Plot:

Tired of the slave-like treatment of his team's owner, charismatic star Negro League pitcher Bingo Long...

Plot Keywords:

1930s | Negro League Baseball | Baseball | African American | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Billy Dee Williams	...	Bingo Long (P)
James Earl Jones	...	Leon Carter, All-Star (C)
Richard Pryor	...	Charlie Snow / Carlos Nevada / Chief Takahoma, All-Star (RF)
Rico Dawson	...	Willie Lee Shively, All-Star (RF)
Sam 'Birmingham' Brison	...	Louis Keystone, All-Star (SS)
Jophery C. Brown	...	Emory 'Champ' Chambers, All-Star (3B)
Otis Day	...	Rainbow, All-Star (bat boy)
Leon Wagner	...	Fat Sam Popper, All-Star (1B)
Tony Burton	...	Issac, All-Star (CF)(C)
John McCurry	...	Walter Murchman, All-Star (LF)
Stan Shaw	...	Esquire Joe Callaway, All-Star (CF)
Ted Ross	...	Sallison 'Sallie' Potter, Owner of Ebony Aces
Mabel King	...	Bertha Dewitt, Owner of Charcoal Kings
Sam Laws	...	Henry Dunbar, Owner of Baltimore Elite Giants
Alvin Childress	...	Horace Quigley, Owner of Atlanta Black Crackers

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:12 | France:U | USA:PG | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Macon, Georgia, USA

Company:

Motown Productions

Trivia:

Steven Spielberg was initially very interesting in directing, but the massive success of Jaws (1975) meant that he was able to get any project of his own off the ground, and decided to make Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)instead.

Quotes:

Leon Carter, All-Star: [after Esquire Joe bowls him over with a slide at the plate] Say, boy - does you do this constantly?
Esquire Joe Callaway, All-Star: No, suh. I does it all the time.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Bingo Long...

Highly entertaining film about a renegade black baseball team that breaks through barriers in 1939, when black ball players where shunned out of white controlled leagues. Williams stands out as their razzle-dazzle leader. The almost black cast that also features Jones, Pryor and Tony Burton are superb.