The Rotunda - In-person! Bright Bulb pres. JAMES EARL JONES MEMORIAL DOUBLE-FEATURE! THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR KINGS (1976, dir. by John Badham, 110 min, U.S.) END OF THE ROAD (1970, dir. by Aram Avakian, 110 min, U.S.)

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JAMES EARL JONES MEMORIAL DOUBLE-FEATURE!
THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR KINGS (1976, directed by John Badham, 110 minutes, U.S.)
END OF THE ROAD (1970, directed by Aram Avakian, 110 minutes, U.S.)
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With the great actor passing away in September at the age of 93, Bright Bulb hopes to honor James Earl Jones' passing by remembering his work beyond STAR WARS and THE LION KING. For an actor who could bring humanity and depth to roles from a sanitation worker to Shakespeare, Jones was well-respected yet decidedly under-used in the 1970s. After 1970's Oscar-nominated performance in THE GREAT WHITE HOPE (in a role he'd played on Broadway) it would be four years before he'd play another leading role on the big screen, working with Diahanne Carroll in the 1974 working class dramedy CLAUDINE. Highlights from the rest of the decade include playing a pirate pal of Robert Shaw in SWASHBUCKLER, an African witch doctor in EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC and an Arab chief in the Marty Feldman vehicle THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE. Bright Bulb's October show will be featuring two of the more substantial roles from Jones' early career that show-off the actor's range and remarkable presence.
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Produced by Berry Gordy and Motown Productions, 1976's BINGO LONG oddly remains the most prominent Hollywood film on the Negro Baseball League. It's a fictionalized story, based on the acclaimed novel by William Brashler, that gives the charismatic Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones a pair of star-worthy roles in a big budget studio film.

Williams is Bingo, a flamboyant pitcher who is tired of being exploited by the team's owner (Ted Ross, The Cowardly Lion from THE WIZ) who teams up with the educated power hitter Jones to form their own barnstorming team made up of disgruntled Negro League players. The owners will use any means to thwart these baseball rebels, climaxing in a game with the players' freedom at stake. The cast is rounded out by the great Richard Pryor, Mabel King, Mama from “What's Happening” and Ken Foree from DAWN OF THE DEAD.

When Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor lay on the charm, no audience can resist. The film lively script, good nature and fast pace made the BINGO LONG a sizable hit and shot by cinematographer Bill Butler, fresh of his work on JAWS, sends the film over-the-top in sheer entertainment. Thelma Houston brings her joyous vocals to a pair memorable tunes on the film's soundtrack. BINGO LONG was the debut of director John Badham, who would go on to direct SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and WAR GAMES.

“Bingo Long is the sort of movie that sends you out feeling happy about the world.”
George Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Hailed at the time as being one of the most audacious of the era's counter-culture films, Aram Avakian's 1970 feature END OF THE ROAD still packs a wallop. Based on the 1958 novel by John Barth, the film follow Jacob Horner (Stacy Keach), an overwhelmed young university graduate who suffers a spell of catatonia on a train platform. There he's discovered by Doctor D. (James Earl Jones), a mysterious physician who takes Jacob back to “The Farm,” an institute where disturbed patients are encouraged to follow their instincts. Completing his “treatment” Doctor D instructs him to get a job at the local college where he becomes entangled with a troubled married couple (Harris Yulin and Dorothy Tristan).

END OF THE ROAD is the blackest of comedies before it takes it's tragic final turn, the film contains a visual trip that could only be post-2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and unforgettable performances, none more vivid than Jones as the inscrutable puppet master of this mayhem.

“Even with 40 years to grow numb to the barrage of modish rhetoric about the collective American psyche unleashed in End of the Road, this unruly 1970 portrait of post-counterculture casualties and chaos remains an unsettling viewing experience.”
Violet Lucca, Film Comment

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Admission is FREE

In-person! Bright Bulb pres. JAMES EARL JONES MEMORIAL DOUBLE-FEATURE! THE BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR KINGS (1976, dir. by John Badham, 110 min, U.S.) END OF THE ROAD (1970, dir. by Aram Avakian, 110 min, U.S.)

Oct 10 2024 @ 7:00 PM

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