Search - The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Suitable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1976 DVD Release: 01/29/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 51 mins Studio: Universal Studios Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Comedy Drama, Americana, Sports Drama

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

Billy Dee Williams - Bingo Long
James Earl Jones - Leon
Richard Pryor - Charlie Snow
Rico Dawson - Willie Lee
Sam "Birmingham" Briston - Louis

Director John Badham says at the top of his commentary track that he was going to be joined by others involved in the making of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings but for some reason they didn't make the taping session. Which is just fine: Badham, who was debuting as a feature director, makes fine company on his own, recalling the intricacies of the production with impressive detail. The cast and Badham's biographies are stacked on the menu page in mock baseball cards; the original theatrical trailer is also pretty cute. The movie's widescreen (1.85:1) digital image isn't up to modern standards, but that's most likely the fault of the 1976 film stock, which tends to have a washed-out quality to it. The Dolby 2.0 sound is fine, with nice separation between the ragtime soundtrack and the dialogue track. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide