Dir: John Badham
1976
****
John Badham's adaptation of William Brashler's novel, which in turn was a story inspired by real people, is a competent sports drama but is essentially a mad-cap comedy at heart. Based on the Negro Baseball leagues of the racially segregated 1930s and 1940s, whereby the Black players were never deemed as good as the professional white players and were more famous for clowning around during games than playing. The film explores the typical situations these black players would often find themselves in and what would have happened to those teams that went independent. There is a social message at the heart of the film but it's pretty light-hearted and full of positively. There is no getting around the fact that it is somewhat sugarcoated but that's alright, like in the film, it was about taking baby-steps and getting the audience on their side. Billy Dee Williams is brilliant, I've always wondered why his career wasn't as A-list as it should have been. James Earl Jones is as powerful as ever and the comic relief comes from the great Richard Pryor, although he didn't have nearly enough screen time. I'm no baseball fan but you really don't need to be to enjoy this lovely and often overlooked film.
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