“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” / 「続・夕陽のガンマン／地獄の決斗」, Original Japanese First-Release Double-Sided Press Sheet Poster 1967, B3 Size (36 × 51 cm) C222

This is an original Japanese double-sided B3 theatrical press sheet poster produced for the first Japanese release of Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / 「続・夕陽のガンマン／地獄の決斗」.

The film was produced and first released internationally in 1966, but opened theatrically in Japan on 23 December 1967. 

Unlike a conventional one-sided poster, this unusual promotional format combines a dramatic full-colour poster design on the front with an extensive monochrome press-information layout on the reverse. The back includes the story, production credits, cast profiles, commentary, music notes and a detailed feature on the firearms used in the film.

Film background

Directed by Sergio Leone, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the concluding film in the celebrated Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

Although the Japanese title begins with:

「続」

meaning “continuation” or “sequel,” the film is not a conventional direct narrative continuation of For a Few Dollars More. The Japanese title was devised to connect it commercially with the previous Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone Western, released locally as 「夕陽のガンマン」. The three films are linked principally through their star, director, visual language and recurring “Man with No Name” mythology.

Set during the American Civil War, the film follows three ruthless and mutually distrustful gunmen searching for a fortune in stolen Confederate gold.

Blondie, a laconic gunslinger, and Tuco, an excitable Mexican outlaw, operate a fraudulent bounty scheme. Blondie repeatedly captures Tuco, collects the reward and then shoots through the hanging rope before Tuco can be executed.

Their volatile partnership collapses, but the two are forced together again when each learns a different part of the secret concerning $200,000 in gold buried in Sad Hill Cemetery.

Blondie knows the name written on the grave, while Tuco knows the location of the cemetery. Neither can claim the money without the other.

They are pursued by Angel Eyes, a merciless professional killer who has also learned of the missing gold. Their journey takes them across a landscape devastated by war, through prison camps, artillery battles and ruined towns, culminating in the film’s legendary three-way confrontation at Sad Hill.

Leone’s extreme close-ups, vast landscape compositions and carefully extended confrontations are accompanied by one of Ennio Morricone’s most recognisable scores. Its whistling main theme became inseparable from the film and from the international popular image of the Italian Western. 

Front poster design

The front is dominated by an enormous close-up of Clint Eastwood as Blondie, squinting beneath his black hat with a cigar held between his teeth.

A large revolver rises diagonally across his face, transforming the firearm into the central structural element of the composition. The weapon divides the poster while linking Eastwood’s portrait to the smaller images surrounding him.

At the centre, Eli Wallach as Tuco appears inside a rectangular portrait encircled by a hanging noose. This darkly comic image directly references the fraudulent executions staged by Tuco and Blondie during the film’s opening section.

On the right, Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes stands dressed in black with his hand resting beside his holstered revolver. His controlled, formal pose contrasts with Eastwood’s weathered face and Wallach’s precarious position inside the noose.

Behind the three central figures is the desolate expanse of Sad Hill Cemetery, rendered beneath an intense orange-red sky. A solitary gunman stands among the graves while a monumental silhouetted hand reaches downward from above.

Additional narrative fragments include fleeing figures, armed riders, a frontier town and a stagecoach. These miniature scenes surround the central portraits like memories or episodes from the journey towards the final confrontation.

The top promotional line reads:

「空を真赤な血の色に、そめて夕陽が沈む時、あのさすらいの口笛に、死人の臭いをかぎつけたガンを片手のまよい犬！」

A natural translation is:

“When the setting sun sinks, dyeing the sky blood-red, the wandering whistle carries the scent of the dead—a stray dog with a gun in one hand!”

The language evokes the film’s famous whistling theme, its wandering gunmen and the atmosphere of death surrounding their search for the gold.

The English title printed on the poster appears in the unusual order:

“THE GOOD, THE UGLY and THE BAD”

This follows the order of the original Italian title—the Good, the Ugly and the Bad—rather than the rearranged order used for the familiar English-language release title.

Double-sided press-sheet reverse

The reverse transforms the poster into a compact Japanese publicity dossier.

At the centre appears the title:

「続・夕陽のガンマン　地獄の決斗」

with the English wording:

“THE GOOD, THE UGLY and THE BAD.”

Large monochrome production stills show gunfights, explosions, the Civil War landscape, Blondie with a noose around his neck and the locomotive sequence.

The principal headings include:

「物語」
“Story”

「解説」
“Commentary”

「スタッフ」
“Staff”

「キャスト」
“Cast”

The right-hand section contains individual profiles of:

Clint Eastwood

Eli Wallach

Lee Van Cleef

Sergio Leone

Alberto Grimaldi

The left column is headed:

「この映画に使われるGUN」

Translated:

“The guns used in this film.”

It presents photographs and descriptions of several period firearms depicted in the production, reflecting the intense Japanese audience interest in Western weaponry during the height of the 1960s macaroni-Western boom.

Below this appears:

「音楽について」

Translated:

“About the music.”

This section discusses Ennio Morricone’s score and its contribution to the atmosphere of the film.

This extensive reverse printing distinguishes the piece from a standard theatrical poster. It preserves the information supplied to Japanese exhibitors and publicity personnel alongside the finished colour campaign image.

Condition

Very Good+ to Excellent condition. The sheet retains strong red, orange, black and cream colour, crisp photographic detail and excellent overall display impact.

Reference: C222.

Please review all photographs carefully, including both the colour front and printed reverse, as they show the exact item and its condition.

This is an original Japanese first-release B3 double-sided theatrical press sheet poster from 1967, not a reproduction or later reprint.

It is now over 58 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.