“Valdez Is Coming” (追撃のバラード), Original Japanese First-Release STB / Tatekan Movie Poster 1971, STB / Tatekan (c. 51 × 145 cm)
This is an original Japanese STB / tatekan signboard poster issued for the film’s first Japanese release in 1971 for Valdez Is Coming (追撃のバラード), the hard-edged Western directed by Edwin Sherin and based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. Starring Burt Lancaster, with Susan Clark, Jon Cypher, and Frank Silvera, this is a striking example of early-1970s Japanese cinema advertising paper: bold, theatrical, and exceptionally effective in the tall signboard format.
Film background
A lean and unsentimental revenge Western, Valdez Is Coming follows Bob Valdez, a Mexican-American lawman and former soldier who is humiliated after trying to do the right thing, then methodically sets out to reclaim his dignity. Burt Lancaster gives the film its gravitas, playing Valdez with stoicism and moral force rather than swagger. For collectors, the title holds particular appeal as a serious early-1970s Western, arriving at a moment when the genre had become darker, more psychological, and more stripped-back than the heroic frontier pictures of earlier decades.
Poster design
This is a magnificent, highly cinematic two-panel composition designed for maximum visibility outside the theatre. The upper sheet is dominated by a stark black silhouette against a blazing red-orange sky, interrupted by a brilliant starburst of gunfire; the effect is minimal, modern, and instantly arresting. The lower sheet shifts into a sweeping Western landscape, with the towering legs of the central gunman framing the desert horizon, riders in the distance, and a dramatic action image of Lancaster below. The huge red Japanese title 追撃のバラード anchors the design with tremendous force, while the small English title at upper right adds an elegant international touch. Altogether, it is a superb piece of Japanese poster design—graphic, aggressive, and far more visually memorable than many standard one-sheet campaigns for the film elsewhere.
About STB (Tatekan) posters
STBs (tatekans) are tall, two-panel Japanese cinema signboard posters measuring roughly 51 × 145 cm (often also cited around 20 × 58 in). Usually formed from two B2 sheets, they were made for display in theatre signboards and exterior units, where size and immediate visual impact mattered more than long-term survival. Because they were working advertising materials, many were discarded, damaged, or permanently mounted after use, which is why original surviving examples are now so desirable.
This example survives as two separate B2 sheets (not joined), exactly as many were originally supplied to cinemas.
Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.
It is over 55 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
