“How to Steal a Million”, Original First Release Japanese Movie Poster 1966, Ultra Rare, STB Tatekan Size 20x57” (51x145cm) O571
This superb original Japanese STB tatekan poster for How to Steal a Million (おしゃれ泥棒, Oshare dorobō – literally “Fashionable Thief”) was printed for the film’s initial Japanese release in 1966. Issued in two vertical sheets almost five feet tall, this striking format was produced in far smaller quantities than the more common B2 and was intended for prominent display at key theatres only. Surviving examples are consequently scarce, and this design is recognised by specialist dealers as one of the most desirable Japanese Audrey Hepburn posters, standing comfortably alongside the best Western campaigns for the film.
How to Steal a Million is a sophisticated heist comedy directed by William Wyler and starring Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Eli Wallach, Hugh Griffith and Charles Boyer. Set in a romantically stylised Paris, the film follows Nicole Bonnet (Hepburn), the devoted daughter of a gentleman art forger, who enlists a seemingly suave cat burglar, Simon Dermott (O’Toole), to steal back a forged Cellini sculpture from a museum before scientific tests reveal the truth and ruin her father. Celebrated for its lightness of touch, deft plotting and sparkling dialogue, the film has come to epitomise the 1960s caper—elegant, witty and effortlessly glamorous.
Costume is central to that glamour. Hepburn’s wardrobe was once again created by her close collaborator Hubert de Givenchy, whose couture designs here range from sharply tailored daywear to a now‑iconic black lace cocktail ensemble and elaborate lace mask worn during the climactic heist. Their partnership, which began with Sabrina, is widely credited with shaping Hepburn’s public image and ensuring that films such as How to Steal a Million occupy a unique place at the intersection of cinema and high fashion.
Equally emblematic of mid‑sixties style is the car that shares the screen with Hepburn and O’Toole: a butter‑yellow Jaguar E‑Type. Frequently described by motoring historians as one of the most beautiful sports cars ever built, the E‑Type’s appearance in the film—gliding through nocturnal Paris with its impeccably dressed occupants—has become one of the picture’s most enduring visual signatures, often singled out in retrospectives on both the movie and the car. On this poster, a vivid red E‑Type is parked at the characters’ feet, an elegant nod to the film’s automotive icon.
The artwork of this STB design makes exceptional use of the tall tatekan format. The upper panel presents a playful close‑up of Hepburn in a scarlet hat, peering mischievously from behind a metal bucket with a scrub brush in hand, her expression promising both romance and mischief; beside her, the English title “William Wyler’s How to Steal a Million” appears in modish typography, while a column of Japanese copy teases “kisses and thrills in the flowers of Paris”. The lower sheet offers a more formal tableau: Hepburn, in her Givenchy lace dress, white gloves and filigree mask, stands back‑to‑back with Peter O’Toole in tuxedo, a pistol concealed behind her back as he nonchalantly holds the disputed sculpture. The Japanese title おしゃれ泥棒 sweeps diagonally in bold red and purple calligraphy across a soft golden ground, balancing the composition with a sense of movement and chic.
Original Japanese STB posters were intended to be used and were almost always discarded after the end of their short theatrical lives. For a glamorous but comparatively modest American caper film, print runs were especially limited, and high‑grade surviving examples of this particular design are now rarely seen on the market. For collectors of Audrey Hepburn, classic heist cinema and mid‑century Japanese graphic design, this tatekan is accordingly regarded as a key piece.
This example remains completely unrestored and unbacked. It was previously folded and subsequently stored flat for many years, with light handling wear, small creases and minor toning consistent with age, but no significant losses or distracting defects. The colours are fresh and well‑saturated across both panels, and the reverse is clean, as shown in the accompanying photographs—evidence of careful preservation over nearly six decades.
This is an original Japanese poster, printed in 1966 for the first Japanese release of How to Steal a Million—now approaching sixty years old and surviving in excellent collectible condition. For discerning enthusiasts of Audrey Hepburn and vintage Japanese cinema art, it offers a rare opportunity to secure one of the film’s most engaging and elusive poster designs.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
