The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (PG, 1976)

Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) puts together a motley team of ballplayers, including Leon (James Earl Jones), the best hitter in the Negro National League. The team called the All-Stars, breaks from the league, undertaking a high-spirited tour of rural America. When the Negro National League shuts them out, they challenge white teams and rely on humor to weather the tense race relations of the 30s. The All-Stars' diverting brand of baseball entertains crowds but infuriates League owners. Fed up, the owners rough up a player. The medical costs bankrupt the team. Bingo agrees to a showdown between the All-Stars and a select group from the Negro National League. Despite the bosses' best effort to fix the game, the All-Stars pull out a thrilling win. One of Bingo's players even gets invited to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers, signaling the end of the Negro National League.

Billy Dee Williams is particularly good as a showman with the heart of a unionist who believes workers should seize the means of production and share profits. James Earl Jones is also rock-solid as the group's moral conscience, and Richard Pryor is hilarious as a black man masquerading as a "Cuban" (later a Native American) so he can make it into the white leagues -- and with white women.

Of course, a story about the Negro National League must confront the issue of race. The movie uses a light touch. For example, there are vast differences in the pre-game festivities of a black crowd and the more formal good-time efforts of the white folks. The film also captures the changing face of baseball. Bingo knows that the Negro National League --and his career in baseball -- is coming to an end. Though change is bittersweet, Bingo and Leon manage to find humor in it.