"CHAPLIN’S ONBORO JINSEI" (チャップリンのおんぼろ人生) — Original Japanese Release Poster, 1950 (Showa 26), B2 Size c. 51 × 73 cm ZA1024

A superb original Japanese B2 poster for チャップリンのおんぼろ人生—a postwar Japanese Chaplin “feature” assembled as a re-edited compilation of his shorts and feature material (as described in Japanese collector/auction documentation). This poster was printed in 1950 - now over 7 decades ago!

Visually, it’s pure mid-century Japanese impact: a blazing red field; Chaplin’s Tramp rendered in crisp, painterly colour; massive white brush-calligraphy for the title; and a sweeping yellow “Charles Chaplin” signature across the lower half—graphic bravura designed to stop foot traffic.

What Exactly Is Onboro Jinsei?
Rather than a single original Chaplin release-title, Onboro Jinsei (literally “shabby / ramshackle life”) is documented in Japanese materials as a compiled program—a Japan-specific framing that repackaged Chaplin for mid-century audiences as an event-style attraction.

Notably, the sheet credits a Japanese-language commentary: “日本語解説 山野一郎” (Japanese narration/explanation by Ichirō Yamano). That credit places this release squarely in the lineage of Japanese silent-film presentation culture.

Yamano Ichirō and the Benshi Tradition
Ichirō Yamano (山野一郎, 1899–1958) is recorded as a prominent katsudō shashin benshi (silent-film narrator/commentator), active in the era when films were explained live beside the screen—a tradition often described as a forerunner to modern narration.

English-language benshi documentation also records Yamano as a working benshi and film interpreter, preserving his place in that uniquely Japanese performance-history.

Co-stars Name-Checked on the Poster
The poster spotlights two of Chaplin’s key early collaborators:

Edna Purviance (エドナ・パーヴィアンス), Chaplin’s leading lady in more than 30 of his films.

Eric Campbell (エリック・キャンベル), a major Chaplin ensemble presence, frequently cast as an imposing comic foil.

Design Notes
Colour as proclamation: saturated red as “curtain” and spotlight—turning Chaplin into a theatrical emblem rather than a mere film still.

Typographic hierarchy: huge white brush lettering (title) delivers traditional authority; the yellow Western script injects glamour and international modernity.

Iconography: the bowler hat, cane, and costume immediately signal Chaplin’s Little Tramp persona—one of world cinema’s most recognizable character designs.

Condition
Overall condition: Very good for age.

Clean, attractive example with fold lines consistent with original Japanese distribution/storage.

Please review the imagery provided as this is the exact poster that is for sale.