“History Is Made at Night” (歴史は夜作られる), Original Japanese Re-Release Movie Poster 1980, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA1083

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed in 1980 for the revival release of History Is Made at Night (歴史は夜作られる), the celebrated 1937 romantic drama directed by Frank Borzage and starring Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur. This Japanese re-release belongs to the important revival culture of late-20th-century Japan, when major classics of Hollywood and European cinema were brought back to the big screen for a new generation of viewers.

Film background

Originally released in 1937, History Is Made at Night is one of Borzage’s most distinctive and emotionally charged films. It begins with the elegance and wit of a sophisticated romantic comedy, before expanding into melodrama and finally into full-scale disaster romance aboard a great ocean liner. Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur give the film its emotional centre, while the film’s tonal daring—moving between charm, danger, passion, and catastrophe—is exactly what has made it endure.

For many cinephiles, it stands among the most romantic films of classical Hollywood, and in Japan it gained further stature through revival screenings and the advocacy of major critics who recognised its unusual emotional force.

Poster design

This is a superb and highly evocative Japanese re-release design. The main visual is built around a large, sepia-toned romantic portrait of the two stars in embrace, giving the poster an atmosphere of old-Hollywood glamour and longing. The bold vertical Japanese title is rendered in a dramatic, traditional calligraphic style, which contrasts beautifully with the soft photographic imagery and gives the sheet real visual authority.

A particularly appealing detail for collectors is the presence of the IP (International Promotion) mark at lower left, which helps identify the poster as part of the 1980 Japanese revival campaign. The prominent recommendation text at upper right, associated with the great Japanese film critic Nagaharu Yodogawa, further reinforces the film’s prestige in Japan. Altogether, it is an elegant and highly displayable country-of-origin poster for one of the great romantic films of the studio era.

Condition

Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale. 

It is over 46 years old!

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.