Policy Man

{{Short description|American film (1938)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox film | director = Irwin Franklyn | producer = Irwin Franklyn, Hazel Franklyn | starring = Ethel Moses, Jimmie Baskett, Count Bassie, Ann Harleman, Henry Wessels | color_process = black and white<ref name="RichardsL" /> | studio = Creative Films Corporation<ref name="RichardsL" /> | distributor = Sack Amusement Entertainment<ref name="RichardsL" /> | released = {{Film date|1938|07|01|ref1=<ref name="Schlabach" />}} | country = United States | language = English }} '''''Policy Man''''', is a 1938 American feature film in black and white, and is now a lost film.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Koszarski |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NzOhgPs80MC&pg=PA376 |title=Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff |date=2008 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4293-5 |pages=376 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 July 2019 |title=The Policy Man (1938) |url=https://www.frankiemanningfoundation.org/the-policy-man/ |website=Frankie Manning Foundation}}</ref> It was advertised as having an "all colored cast",<ref>{{Cite news |date=1938-07-11 |title=Roosevelt |pages=10 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121726268/roosevelt/ |access-date=2023-03-27}}</ref> featuring Ethel Moses, Jimmie Baskett, and Count Bassie.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1938 |title=Negro films |work=The Palmetto Leader (newspaper) |url=https://historicnewspapers.sc.edu/lccn/sn93067919/1938-07-30/ed-1/seq-1/ocr/ |oclc=28640893}}</ref> It was directed by Irwin Franklyn, and produced by Irwin Franklyn and Hazel Franklyn.<ref name="RichardsL">{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Larry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTGSCgAAQBAJ |title=African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography |date=2015-09-17 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1052-8 |pages=133 |language=en}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=July 30, 1938 |title=Hallejua Star Receives Long Time Contract (Image 1) |pages=1 |work=Twin-City Herald (newspaper) |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90060227/1938-07-30/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |via=Chronicling America, National Endowment for the Humanities}}</ref>''

== About == ''Policy Man'' was an urban crime film that portrayed sophisticated African Americans in Harlem.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=White |first1=Shane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F1ytSoMM8qAC&dq=policy.man+1938&pg=PA22 |title=Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars |last2=Garton |first2=Stephen |last3=Robertson |first3=Stephen |last4=White |first4=Graham |date=May 15, 2010 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674051072 |via=Google Books}}</ref> It included in its plot a person involved in a numbers game lotteries (or a gambler), and the numbers racket (or illegal gambling).<ref name="Schlabach">{{Cite book |last=Schlabach |first=Elizabeth Schroeder |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VW8PBAAAQBAJ&dq=policy.man+1938&pg=PA73 |title=Along the Streets of Bronzeville: Black Chicago's Literary Landscape |date=September 15, 2012 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252095108 |pages=73– |chapter=Policy, Creativity, and Bronzeville’s Dreams |volume=1 |doi=10.5406/illinois/9780252037825.003.0003 |via=Google Books}}</ref> It was a popular film in northern cities in the United States.<ref name=":1" />

The cast included Ann Harleman, Henry, Wessels, Ethel Moses, Jimmie Baskett, and Count Bassie.<ref name="RichardsL" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Film, Video: Policy Man |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200018539/ |website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

It was one of a series of Creative Films Corporation produced urban crime films, all directed by Irwin Franklyn.<ref name=":0" /> Advertising materials for the film are extant.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Policy Man (1938) [Lost Film] |url=https://www.daaracarchive.org/2017/11/policy-man-1938-lost-film.html |website=Department of Afro-American Research, Arts, and Culture (DAARAC)}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Policy Man}} Category:1938 films Category:1938 American films Category:1938 crime drama films Category:1938 lost films Category:1938 musical films Category:1930s musical drama films Category:African-American musical drama films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American films about gambling Category:English-language crime drama films Category:English-language musical drama films Category:Films set in Harlem Category:Lost American crime drama films Category:Lost American musical drama films