Main Cast: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Rico Dawson, Sam "Birmingham" Briston
Release Year: 1976
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
Based on the novel by William Brasher, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings is set in the segregated south of 1939. African-American baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams), tired of being jerked around by the less-than-ethical managers of the Negro League teams, forms his own barnstorming ball club. His partner in this endeavor is black catcher Leon Carter (James Earl Jones). Though boycotted by powerful Negro League manager Sallison Porter (Ted Ross), the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings flourish, gaining a loyal fandom with every new game and cutting into the League's profits. Finally, Porter offers Long a deal: if the Motor Kings can win one big game with the Negro All-Stars, Long's team will be allowed to join the League. Also appearing in Bingo Long is Richard Pryor as a ballplayer who tries to break through the big-league color line by pretending to be everything from a Hispanic to a Native American named "Chief Tokohama"; if Pryor seems to disappear for long periods during the film, it's because his role was written to accommodate his many nightclub appearances. The producers originally wanted young Steven Spielberg to direct, but -- inspired by the success of Jaws -- he turned this down in favor of doing Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Ever since its original 1976 release, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings has been warmly regarded but not wildly heralded. Seen years later, it remains a wonderful tale with effortless acting by a top-notch ensemble, but it's not a "big finisher" that stays with you for very long. As a baseball movie, Bingo Long is a superb collection of scenes from the days when African Americans were not permitted to play in major league baseball, so they banded together and barnstormed the country, having a lot of fun while doing it. This conviviality and the romantic aura of the period are the strongest emotions that come across. Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones star in that rarest of films, the nearly all-black cast, lighting up the screen with their antics. The story's structure wobbles a bit, and the drama of the end is obscured by the lack of a clearly delineated villain, but the movie has terrific appeal, particularly to baseball aficionados who will be awestruck by the idea that a pitcher would not let his team take the field in the first inning until after he had pitched to the first batter (apparently, Satchel Paige did this in reality). Try that, Roger Clemens. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Bernard Johnson - Costume Designer, Tom Joyner - First Assistant Director, John Badham - Director, David Rawlins - Editor, Berry Gordy, Jr. - Executive Producer, William Goldstein - Composer (Music Score), Ron Miller - Composer (Music Score), Berry Gordy - Composer (Music Score), Lawrence G. Paull - Production Designer, Bill Butler - Cinematographer, Rob Cohen - Producer, Michael Chinich - Producer, Leonard A. Mazzola - Set Designer, Willie D. Burton - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert L. Hoyt - Sound/Sound Designer, Jophery Brown - Stunts, Hal Barwood - Screenwriter, Matthew Robbins - Screenwriter, William Brashler - Book Author
Tired of being treated like a slave by team owner Sallison Potter (Ted Ross), charismatic star pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) steals a bunch of Negro League players away from their teams, including catcher/slugger Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), a player forever scheming to break into the segregated Major League Baseball of the 1930s by masquerading as first a Cuban ("Carlos Nevada"), then a Native American ("Chief Takahoma"). They take to the road, barnstorming through small Midwestern towns, playing the local teams to make ends meet. One of the opposing players, 'Esquire' Joe Callaway (Stan Shaw), is so good that they recruit him.
Bingo's team becomes so outlandishly entertaining and successful, it begins to cut into the attendance of the established Negro League teams. Finally, Bingo's nemesis Potter is forced to propose a winner-take-all game: if Bingo's team can beat a bunch of all-stars, it can join the league, but if it loses, the players will return to their old teams. Potter has two of his goons kidnap Leon prior to the game as insurance, but he escapes and keys his side's victory.
Ironically, there is a major league scout in the audience. After the game, he offers Esquire Joe the chance to break the color barrier; with Bingo's permission, he accepts. Leon glumly foresees the decline of the Negro League as more players follow Esquire Joe's lead, but Bingo, ever the optimist, cheers him up by describing the wild promotional stunts he intends to stage to bring in the paying customers.
Bingo Long is based on Satchel Paige. Early in his career, Paige called in his outfielders while leading in the ninth inning of a 1-0 game and pitched his way out of a jam. Bingo replicated the stunt in this movie. Leon Carter is a Josh Gibson-like power hitter, even playing the same position (catcher). Most obviously, 'Esquire' Joe Callaway is a thinly-veiled Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to break Major League baseball's color barrier.
The character of Bertha (Mabel King), the sole woman team owner, is inspired by Effa Manley.
Production
Luther Williams Field in Macon, Georgia was used for filming as the Negro League ballpark. Luther Williams Field is home to the Macon Music, a minor league team in the independent South Coast League. Additional ballpark scenes were shot at Morgan Field in Macon, a Pony and Colt League Youth Baseball field, Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia, home of the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League. Exterior scenes set in St. Louis residential neighborhoods were also filmed in Savannah. Scenes set in rural communities were filmed in Talbotton, Georgia and various small towns around Macon. Some ballplayers were played by actual ballplayers, including former members of the Indianapolis Clowns, who performed the clowning stunts shown in the film.
Steven Spielberg originally wanted to have a hand in producing the movie until the success of his film Jaws got his full attention.
