"The Thomas Crown Affair", Original First Release Japanese Movie Poster 1968, Ultra Rare, STB Size (51x145cm) Q47
"The Thomas Crown Affair", Original First Release Japanese Movie Poster 1968, STB Size (51 × 145 cm)
Japanese title: 「華麗なる賭け」(Karei naru Kake)
Size: STB / 20 × 57 in (51 × 145 cm)
Country / Studio: Japan / United Artists.
Printed in 1968 for the first Japanese theatrical release of The Thomas Crown Affair, this towering STB tatekan captures Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway at the height of the film’s original international impact. McQueen’s stature is central to the appeal: TCM describes him as one of the world’s most popular and highly paid actors during his 1960s–70s heyday, and notes that he became the highest-paid movie star in the world in 1974. In Japan, his following was especially strong and enduring; SCREEN still characterizes him as the “King of Cool,” recalling how films such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and Bullitt made him a lasting object of admiration for Japanese audiences. For collectors, that matters enormously: first-release Japanese paper for a major McQueen title is always desirable, but the STB is on another level altogether—a theatrical signboard format produced in smaller numbers and far rarer than standard Japanese posters.
Design highlights
This is Japanese poster design at its most sleek and seductive. The composition transforms the film’s cool sophistication into a monumental vertical collage: a commanding close-up of McQueen dominates the upper sheet, while Dunaway strides below in vivid yellow and grey, flanked by suited figures, a polo scene, glider, kiss, golf swing, and dune buggy. The huge red and blue Japanese title lettering drives down the sheet with real billboard force. It is glamorous, modern, and immediately legible from a distance—exactly what an STB was made to achieve.
Cultural impact
Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair was one of the signature stylish caper films of the late 1960s, released when McQueen, Dunaway, and Jewison were all near career peaks. The film’s reputation was further cemented by Michel Legrand’s Academy Award-winning “The Windmills of Your Mind,” which remains inseparable from its aura of sophistication and melancholy. That combination of glamour, modern design, romance, and anti-hero cool translates exceptionally well into Japanese poster art, and helps explain the enduring collector appeal of first-release paper for the title.
Condition
Very Good, with clear signs of period theatrical display, entirely in keeping with the way STB posters were originally used. As is very common for the format, this poster was printed as two separate sheets, and in this example the two sections have been stuck / pasted together from prior display. The poster shows pinholes from decades-ago use. There is also a small area of paper loss / tearing at the left side. Despite this, the front still presents attractively, with strong colour and excellent wall presence. We have taken the condition fully into account when pricing. Please review the photos carefully, as they show the exact poster for sale.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
About STB (Tatekan) posters
STBs are tall Japanese cinema signboard posters measuring approximately 51 × 145 cm (about 20 × 57 in). They were produced for prominent theatre and street display, and, as Sotheby’s notes for a comparable Thomas Crown Affair example, were printed in two pieces intended to be pasted together on billboards. Because they were made in relatively small quantities and exposed to hard use, surviving originals are far rarer than standard Japanese B2 posters. That rarity is a major reason why first-release STBs are so sought after today.
