''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 in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, and is now a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. It was advertised as having an "all colored cast", featuring

Ethel Moses Ethel Moses (April 29, 1904 – June 1982) was an American stage and film actress, and dancer. She was billed as "the black Jean Harlow". Moses is best known for working in films by Oscar Micheaux. Early life Ethel Moses was born on April 29, 190 ...

, Jimmie Baskett, and Count Bassie. It was directed by

Irwin Franklyn Irwin Richard Franklyn (1904–1966) was an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, novelist, and publicist. He wrote novelizations of films including ''Flight: An Epic of the Air'' for Frank Capra's film. He is also known as Irwin R ...

, 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 be ...

(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

. 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