The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and — The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor King

The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings is a 1976 comedy directed by John Badham (Short Circuit, War Games, Blue Thunder & Saturday Night Fever) that features a triple threat of legendary African American actors, first, up is Billy Dee William (Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars trilogy) as Bingo Long alongside another Star Wars veteran, the brilliant James Earl Jones (The voice of Darth Vader and The Lion King’s Mufasa) as Leon Carter, the two are ably supported by the emerging comic genius of the time, Richard Pryor (Brewster’s Millions, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Superman III) as Charlie Snow. 

Set in the 1930s, a period in which segregation in sport was the norm in America. The film tells the story of star baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Williams) who has grown tired of being treated like a slave by his team’s owner, this is fortified by images of a former star player trying to scrape a living and being ill-treated by the team owner. Bingo has the idea to bring together a group of star players from across the African American leagues to play friendly matches across the Midwest. These include catcher/slugger, Leon Carter (Jones) and Charlie Snow (Pryor) who is trying to break into the major league by posing first as a Cuban and later as a native American. Together they take to the road as the Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings, playing local teams across the Midwest. The team become so entertaining, not just as sportsmen but as entertainers ( they are very much like a baseball equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters) that they begin to impact the attendances of the normal African American league games. This results in a game between Bingo and his All-stars and a team of all-stars made up from the league. If Bingo and his team win they will be accepted into the league, however, if they lose they must return to their old teams and take up where they left off.

Bingo Long is a surprisingly good comedy, with an excellent cast. It was surprising, in that the film was one I was unaware of before going into this viewing, however after watching it I can’t for the life of me understand why it was never more well known on this side of the pond. It features three major Hollywood stars with worldwide appeal, is directed by a top director and features an excellent script from Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins based on the 1973 William Brashler novel of the same name. The film is funny and thought-provoking and features a host of likeable characters, Williams is definitely the star man here and he really does play off the talents of both Jones and Pryor who both give him a run for his money in the performance stakes. It’s also worth noting that the supporting cast are also excellent across the board, and it’s interesting to spot a pre-Dawn of the Dead cameo from horror legend Ken Foree.

The film itself looks great, the new remastered HD image is sharp and clean throughout and the colours are vivid and natural. On top of this, the disc features some pretty solid bonus materials, most notably an audio commentary from director Badham and a documentary about the segregated African American baseball leagues narrated by James Earl Jones.

Bingo Long feels like something of a lost classic to me, perhaps I was an anomaly in not knowing the film, but it’s not one that has ever come up on my radar over the years. It is, however, great to see it getting treated with such respect by Powerhouse, who have really given the film a release to be proud of. Bingo Long is a timeless comedy that serves as a judicious reminder of the prejudices that existed in our not so distant past.