The majority of baseball films are thoroughly familiar and formulaic; one surprise is The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, a vibrant comedy-drama that celebrates black baseball players in the era before they were allowed into the major leagues.

Billy Dee Williams portrays the title character, Bingo Long, who was based on real-life pitcher Satchel Paige, and James Earl Jones co-stars as a fearsome catcher modeled after Josh Gibson.  Filling out the All-Stars roster are Richard Pryor, Tony Burton, Stan Shaw, John McCurry, Leon Wagner and three former minor league players: Sam “Birmingham” Brison, Rico Dawson and Jophrey Brown, who actually pitched two innings of one game for the Chicago Cubs in 1968.

The All-Stars revolt against the greed and tyranny of their league owners and form their own team, barnstorming across the South.  They encounter prejudice and discrimination as a matter of routine, yet manage to overcome their setbacks — and win fans’ approval — with marvelous baseball skills on the field, accompanied by diffusive humor.

Reportedly, former Negro League players who saw the film disliked the emphasis placed on the humor that occurs during the baseball games, feeling that the players (actors) were conveying the wrong attitude regarding real black players’ approach to the sport.  While such reaction cannot be discounted — particularly during the final game, in which two black teams play before a black audience — the film as a whole does a commendable job noting the racial imbalance of the era without sermonizing.

The baseball scenes are generally good, with the exception of two sequences involving a cartoon fastball and an outfield catch for which the film is accelerated in exaggerated fashion.

Directed by John Badham back in the days when he took his craft seriously, the film combines exuberant performances with strong social commentary, likable characters and liberal doses of comedy to tell its tale.  In terms of baseball movies, it is one of only a few to depict the Negro League era and to show how the national pastime might have been played.  My rating:  ✰ ✰ ✰.  (6:1).