Book of Numbers (1973)

Director: Raymond St. Jacques

Starring: Raymond St. Jacques, Philip Michael Thomas, Freda Payne, D'Urville Martin, Sterling St. Jacques, Gilbert Green, Irma P. Hall, Doug Finell, Willie Washington Jr.

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Black King of the Numbers Game

Plot: Arkansas, 1930s: Two waiters and their protege arrive at the town of El Dorado and disclose their intention to establish the town's first numbers bank, thereby freeing the black citizens from having to support the white-run racket in the next town. They meet with opposition from the neighboring numbers bank and tragedy ensues.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I'm a sucker for Prohibition-era gangster/crime shit and here's one with a black angle.  It's not too shabby.  Have D'Urville Martin in your movie ups the stock and entertainment value.  There's some action sprinkled into the by-the-numbers (ahahahahaha) plot.  I'm not looking for anything different with these kinds of stories so they don't have to re-invent the wheel but I do like to be entertained and this one did a fair amount of it.  Thomas was way too serious but that's the character I guess.  The only copy of this I could find anywhere is a VHS sourced DVD which is full screen and shitty.  A decent widescreen print would have been nice but you do what you have to if you really want to see it I suppose.