''Policy Man'', is a 1938 American feature film in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

, and is now a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

. It was advertised as having an "all colored cast", featuring Ethel Moses, Jimmie Baskett, and

Count Bassie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

. It was directed by Irwin Franklyn, and produced by Irwin Franklyn and Hazel Franklyn.'

About

''Policy Man'' was an urban crime film that portrayed sophisticated African Americans in Harlem. It included in its plot a person involved in a numbers game lotteries (or a gambler), and the

numbers racket The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a ...

(or illegal gambling). It was a popular film in northern cities in the United States. The cast included Ann Harleman, Henry, Wessels, Ethel Moses, Jimmie Baskett, and Count Bassie. The film features musical groups The Plantation Club Chorus (or N.Y. Plantation Club Chorus), The Al Taylor Orchestra, The Savoy Lindy Hoppers, and The Big Apples. It was one of a series of Creative Films Corporation produced urban crime films, all directed by Irwin Franklyn. Advertising materials for the film are extant.

References

American films about gambling 1938 crime films American black-and-white films 1930s American films Films set in Harlem African-American drama films African-American musical drama films 1938 lost films {{1930s-US-film-stub