The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings

PG

1976

1 hr. 50 min.

Comedy

List

87%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Top baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) is fed up with how his Negro League team owner treats him, so he forms his own lineup, recruiting big-hitting Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), who dreams of playing in the majors. Boycotted by black teams, Long's outfit play minor league white teams, earning more attention as entertainers than as players. However, their success wins them a chance to play again in the Negro League, this time as equals.

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Critics Consensus

Assembling an all-star team and letting them have infectious fun, Bingo Long throws a grand party in the dugout while giving a generation of ballplayers their overdue shine.

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John A

An all--star kind of trio runs amok in this frenetic baseball tale of rebellion.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

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Steve D

Doesn't have the guts to show enough of reality but it is entertaining and sometimes hard hitting.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best sports movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

A wonderful forgotten movie about an equally forgotten part of our past. Its funny, exciting, tender at times, and sad. A great cast, too. I loved it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Audience Member

Decent flick, didn't realise it was that old

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Loved this movie. I wonder why it never plays on TV. Come to think of it, none of the Motown movies do.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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John Badham

Director

Billy Dee Williams

Bingo Long

James Earl Jones

Leon Carter

Richard Pryor

Charlie Snow

Rico Dawson

Willie Lee Shively

Sam "Birmingham" Brison

Louis Keystone

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Richard Pryor Passes Away at 65

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Desmond Ryan

Philadelphia Inquirer

I cannot attest to the accuracy of this highly original film, but it looks and feels right, and life with [ballplayers like Josh] Gibson, Satchell Paige, Cool Poppa Bell and Judy Johnson must have been like this.

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

Richard Dyer

Boston Globe

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings is a terrific summer movie, full of fun. It's almost like going to a baseball game, only it's air conditioned -- the fans talk back to the screen, cheer the heroes, advise them, boo the bad guys.

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

Joe Pollack

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A sparkling, brisk, very entertaining motion picture that deals with the adventures and misadventures of the league and a rebellious team.

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

George Anderson

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bingo Long is the sort of movie that sends you out feeling happy about the world.

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

Anthony Bannon

Buffalo News

[Bingo Long is] a fine movie which gives an important recreation of our country's past in a spirit full of hope and good cheer. When's the last time you heard a ring of applause at the end of a movie?

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

R.H. Gardner

Baltimore Sun

It is an ebullient, free-wheeling story, filled with high good humor, parades, vaudeville turns, fabulous feats both on and off the diamond -- all backed by a lilting jazz score.

Apr 11, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

Top baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) is fed up with how his Negro League team owner treats him, so he forms his own lineup, recruiting big-hitting Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), who dreams of playing in the majors. Boycotted by black teams, Long's outfit play minor league white teams, earning more attention as entertainers than as players. However, their success wins them a chance to play again in the Negro League, this time as equals.

Director: John Badham
Executive Producer: Berry Gordy
Screenwriter: Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins
Production Co: Universal/Universal Int
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 25, 2010

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