The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

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The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

Directed by	John Badham
Produced by	Berry Gordy Rob Cohen
Written by	Hal Barwood William Brashler
Starring	Billy Dee Williams James Earl Jones Richard Pryor
Music by	William Goldstein
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	November 17, 1976
Running time	110 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) is an affectionately comedic sports film about a team of enterprising ex-Negro League baseball players in the era of racial segregation. It starred Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor. Directed by John Badham, the movie was produced by Berry Gordy for Motown Productions and Rob Cohen for Universal Pictures, and released by Universal on November 17, 1976.

1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Negro League tie-ins
4 Trivia
5 External link

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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 (aka "Carlos Nevada" and "Chief Takahoma", played by Richard Pryor, as a player forever trying to break into the segregated Major League baseball of the 1930's by masquerading as first a Cuban, then a Native American). 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.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Billy Dee Williams as Bingo Long
James Earl Jones as Leon Carter
Richard Pryor as Charlie Snow, "Carlos Nevada" and "Chief Takahoma"
Stan Shaw as 'Esquire' Joe Callaway
Tony Burton as Issac, one of Bingo's players
Rico Dawson as Willie Lee Shavely, an All-Star
Sam Brison as Louis Keystone, another All-Star
Jophery C. Brown as Emory Chambers, an All-Star
Leon Wagner as Fat Sam Popper, an All-Star
DeWayne Jessie as Rainbow, the All-Stars' batboy. He later played singer Otis Day in Animal House.
Ted Ross as Sallison Potter, Bingo's nemesis and owner of the Ebony Aces
Mabel King as Bertha Dewitt, another Negro League team owner
Ken Foree as Honey, one of Potter's henchmen
Carl Gordon as Mack, Potter's other goon

[edit] Negro League tie-ins

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 man to break Major League baseball's color barrier.

The Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings are loosely based on the Ethiopian Clowns, a barnstorming baseball team that joined the Negro American League in the 1940s.