Based on fact, and blessed with a sharp screenplay by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, this story of an all-black baseball team fighting for survival in 1939 was directed by John Badham, who made his name with Saturday Night Fever, and has more recently made the very popular and successful action films Blue Thunder and WarGames. Billy Dee Williams, later seen to better advantage in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, is rather dull as Bingo Long, but there's always Richard Pryor, as an ace baseball player obsessed by the possibility of infiltrating a top white team as a Cuban or Red Indian.

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