The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

Have you ever seen a film that is likeable but you find it hard to actually like? 1976's THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR KINGS is the very definition of amiable, finding just the right lighthearted tone to tell its story of Negro League baseball players in the 1930s who break away from their unscrupulous owners and form a dream roster, barnstorming small towns by challenging local teams, sometimes ones with white players.  William Brashler's novel is good source material, and the movie was co-produced by Berry Gordy.  The cast includes Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, and Richard Pryor.  John Badham, who would later helm SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, WARGAMES, and STAKEOUT, directs.

Yet it never took flight for me.   Some reasons are obvious.  At one hundred and ten minutes, it is far too long.  We get one too many montages.  Too many antics, and I don't necessarily cite the Harlem Globetrotter (or even Savannah Banana)-like circus act of the All-Stars.  By the time ace pitcher/spearheader Bingo Long (Williams) steals a car,  I almost gave up on the movie.  There is a good tight ninety-minute picture in here, but editor David Rawlins didn't quite carve it out.  Even the good scenes just didn't really play, despite the good spirits all around, and the obvious heart behind this project.  

The actors are well chosen.  Pryor has fun as Charlie Snow, who's been trying to break into the MLB, passing himself off as Cuban.  He also can't seem to figure out how to calculate RBIs and ERAs.  And good to see Jones in a less serious role.  Williams is engaging and has real charisma.   

Can I blame Badham, whose direction is just so uninspired? Who one year later created one of the most electric, atmospheric movies of the '70s? Here he has no strong visual sense.  The era is depicted convincingly, but the action played in it was just not that interesting.

So maybe the fault is with screenwriters Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins? Their story covers a lot of ground.  We get a good look at the owners, who resort to hiring goons to injure and/or kidnap the star players when Bingo's team starts threatening attendance of the NL games.  Even the minor characters are well drawn. And baseball is my favorite sport.   So what am I complaining about?  I dunno.  While there are some solid base hits throughout BINGO LONG, there are many other fouls.  There aren't too many really good baseball movies out there.