The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings

Director: John Badham John Badham

Overview

"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."

Product Details

Release Date:	01/29/2002
UPC:	0025192177323
Original Release:	1976
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	30,493

Special Features

Feature commentary with director John Badham; Theatrical trailer; DVD-ROM access; Production notes; Cast & filmmakers; Film highlights

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Billy Dee Williams	Bingo Long
James Earl Jones	Leon Carter, All-Star
Richard Pryor	Charlie Snow/Carlos Nevada/Chief Takahoma, All-Star
Stan Shaw	Joe
Ted Ross	Sallie
DeWayne Jessie	Rainbow
Rico Dawson	Willie Lee
Sam 'Birmingham' Briston	Louis
Jophery Brown	Champ Chambers
Leon Wagner	Fat Sam
Tony Burton	Isaac
John McCurry	Walter Murchman
Mabel King	Bertha
Sam Laws	Henry
Alvin Childress	Horace
Ken Foree	Honey
Carl Gordon	Mack
Ahna Capri	Prostitute
Joel Fluellen	Mr. Holland
Sarina C. Grant	Pearline,Pearline
John McKee	Stranger
Ron Miller	Composer
Berry Gordy	Composer
William Goldstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Hal Barwood

Matthew Robbins

John Badham	Director
Berry Gordy	Executive Producer
Rob Cohen	Producer
Hal Barwood	Screenwriter
Matthew Robbins	Screenwriter
Michael Chinich	Producer
Jophery Brown	Stunts
Robert L. Hoyt	Sound/Sound Designer
Willie Burton	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

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.