The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) on Netflix
Tired of owner Sallison Potter's treatment, pitcher Bingo Long takes a squad of Negro League players barnstorming through Midwestern towns. Slugger Leon Carter and Charlie Snow join him.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.8/102,577 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes89%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bingo Long is a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues, and he has had enough of the way Sallison Potter, the owner of his team, treats him. He leaves and takes a group of players with him, among them the catcher and slugger Leon Carter and Charlie Snow, who keeps trying to reach the segregated major leagues by passing himself off as a Cuban called Carlos Nevada and then as a Native American called Chief Takahoma. The established black teams refuse to book the new club, so the All-Stars barnstorm through small towns in the Midwest, playing local and white minor league squads. On the road they meet an opposing player good enough to recruit: Esquire Joe Calloway.
Cast
- Rico Dawsonas Willie Lee Shively, All-Star (RF)
- Sam Brisonas Louis
- Leon Wagneras Fat Sam Popper, All-Star (1B)
Show all 19 cast
- Carl Gordonas Mack
- Sam 'Birmingham' Brisonas Louis Keystone - All-Star - SS (as 'Birmingham' Sam Brison)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Steven Spielberg originally wanted to have a hand in producing the movie, until the success of his own film Jaws got his full attention.
- Star pitcher Bingo Long is based on the former Black Baron Leroy “Satchel” Paige, who early in his career would call in his outfield while leading in the ninth against an amateur or semi-pro team and strike out the side; the movie recreates the stunt.
SPOILER
The character “Esquire” Joe Calloway is an amalgam of another Black Baron, Willie Mays, in personality, talent and fielding position, and of Jackie Robinson, in being signed by a white team at the film's end.
