“Borsalino” (ボルサリーノ), Original First-Release Japanese Movie Poster 1970, Rare Alain Delon / Jean-Paul Belmondo Design, STB / Tatekan Size (c. 51 × 145 cm) O839

A magnificent Japanese interpretation of French gangster cinema

An original first-release Japanese STB / tatekan poster for Borsalino, issued for its 1970 Japanese theatrical release through Paramount Pictures. The film opened in Japan on 13 June 1970, bringing together Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo in a lavish period gangster adventure directed by Jacques Deray.

Almost five feet tall, this striking Japanese composition combines two monumental cigar-smoking portraits, an enormous scarlet title, a warm-toned Marseille street scene and smaller action and romantic vignettes. It captures the film’s appeal through clothes, faces, atmosphere and movement rather than an overcrowded display of gunfire.

The contrast is particularly attractive: deep blue-grey night scenes above, honey-coloured architecture below, and bold red Japanese lettering connecting the two sections. The result is a poster with tremendous presence, equally compelling as original film publicity and as a piece of early-1970s Japanese graphic design.

Preserved in Very Good+ to Excellent condition, this complete example retains rich colour and a beautifully balanced overall appearance. Once framed as a complete STB, it will make an exceptional centrepiece.

The film

Set in 1930s Marseille, Borsalino follows the rise of Roch Siffredi and François Capella, two small-time criminals whose initial rivalry develops into friendship and partnership. Beginning with comparatively modest schemes, they become increasingly ambitious, challenging the established figures who control the city’s criminal economy. What starts with energy, humour and opportunism gradually becomes a more dangerous story about power and the cost of success.

Alain Delon plays Siffredi, while Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Capella. Their partnership is the centre of the film: two contrasting personalities discovering that their combined talents can take them further than either could travel alone. The changing relationship between them gives the criminal ascent its emotional weight.

The film was also an important production venture for Delon, who served as producer. Drawing on Eugène Saccomano’s Bandits à Marseille, the screenplay brought together Jean-Claude Carrière, Claude Sautet, Jacques Deray and Jean Cau. Jean-Jacques Tarbès’ cinematography and Claude Bolling’s score helped establish the picture’s distinctive period atmosphere.

Delon, Belmondo and Jacques Deray

The attraction of Borsalino lies partly in its celebration of two of French cinema’s defining leading men within a single, purpose-built star vehicle. Delon and Belmondo are not incidental presences in a large ensemble: the film is organised around the tension, humour and friendship generated by their pairing.

Jacques Deray, who had already directed Delon in La Piscine, was well suited to this mixture of star charisma, criminal intrigue and polished visual storytelling. Borsalino moves between the pleasures of a period adventure and the increasingly serious consequences of its characters’ ambitions. Its production combines carefully styled costumes, a recognisable urban setting and an emphasis on the relationship between the two leads.

The Japanese campaign makes that pairing its principal selling point. Rather than treating the film simply as another gangster story, it presents the meeting of its two stars as an event in itself.

That emphasis is particularly effective in this STB. The oversized portraits establish the personalities first; the street action and smaller vignette then suggest the world surrounding them. Star presence leads the design, while narrative detail rewards a closer look.

The title, the hats and the film’s sense of style

The name Borsalino comes from the celebrated Italian hatmaker, whose name became the title of the 1970 film. That connection makes headwear more than a incidental costume detail: it is part of the film’s identity and its association with period elegance.

This Japanese poster gives that idea remarkable prominence. A broad-brimmed felt hat with a striped ribbon occupies much of the upper-left area, while a pale flat cap projects across the foreground. Together with the cigars, tailored jackets, shirt collars and ties, these details establish a world in which appearance is part of authority.

The design is stylish without becoming static. Beneath the carefully composed portraits, the smaller running figures introduce physical energy and a note of mischief. Elegance and action remain in balance, just as the campaign’s copy promises.

Poster design

The upper sheet is dominated by two enormous, overlapping portraits, their warm photographic colouring set against a cool, dark background. The contrast between the two hats creates a strong arrangement of shapes, while the cigars reinforce the film’s underworld atmosphere.

Behind them, street lights and a nocturnal city scene provide texture without competing with the faces. The blue-grey background gradually softens into the pale area below, allowing the upper portrait montage to merge naturally with the lower composition.

The Japanese title, 「ボルサリーノ」, is spectacular. Printed in large, angular red katakana, it descends through the left-hand side, extending across the two sheets. The lettering is not simply a label placed over the image: it is one of the principal structural elements of the poster.

Its sharp diagonals and generous scale contrast beautifully with the softer photographic transitions around it. The red remains the strongest colour accent throughout, tying the cool upper section to the warmer architectural scene below.

The lower sheet opens into a long, narrow street lined with tall façades, shuttered windows and projecting signs. Rendered in warm ochre and sepia tones, the street recedes towards a dark period motorcar. Its perspective gives the composition depth, while the vertical buildings echo the proportions of the STB itself.

In front of the car, two running figures in contrasting suits bring movement into the otherwise architectural setting. Their placement is particularly effective: relatively small beside the enormous portraits above, they introduce action without weakening the poster’s emphasis on personality and style.

A rectangular romantic vignette at lower left, with a pale pink outfit beside dark formalwear, adds another register of colour and mood. At lower right, the elegant gold-toned “Borsalino” script provides a refined counterpoint to the forceful red Japanese title.

The palette is one of the great pleasures of this design: scarlet, midnight blue-grey, cream, honeyed brown, pale pink, muted purple and blue. It is colourful without feeling discordant, with each accent assigned a clear role.

The original Japanese campaign copy

The Japanese text adds another layer to the poster’s appeal, preserving exactly how the film was presented to its first local audiences.

At upper right, the yellow copy begins:

「マルセイユの暗黒街！」
“Marseille’s underworld!”

It then contrasts 「静」 and 「動」—“stillness” and “action”—before describing two stylish underworld figures joining forces, cigars in their mouths. The wording emphasises complementary personalities rather than treating the protagonists as interchangeable tough guys.

The blue vertical announcement is equally revealing:

「世界中のファンが待っていた ２大スタアの豪華顔合せ！」
“The lavish pairing of two great stars that fans around the world have been waiting for!”

This is the campaign’s central promise: the attraction is not only the gangster story, but the encounter between two major screen personalities.

The stars’ names descend through the composition in muted purple, while the French-language billing “JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO et ALAIN DELON” appears above the script title near the bottom. The Eastmancolor notation, Paramount branding and Japanese recording advertisements complete the original theatrical layout.

A distinctly Japanese composition

The appeal of this poster lies in the way the Japanese campaign reorganises photographic publicity into a new graphic whole.

The towering portraits, enormous vertical katakana, coloured promotional text and extended street perspective work together in a composition designed for the tall Japanese format. Familiar film imagery acquires a different character through its scale, placement and interaction with the lettering.

The STB’s height is especially important. It allows the design to move from close-up portraiture to architecture, action and romance without forcing every element into the same compact space. The large images attract attention from a distance; the lower scenes and campaign details become apparent as the viewer approaches.

For collectors of Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, French crime cinema and Japanese film-poster design, this combination offers considerable appeal. It is original Japanese publicity for a French-Italian production—not a French country-of-origin poster—and its value as a design lies precisely in that distinctive local interpretation.

The STB / tatekan format

Japanese STB / tatekan posters are tall, two-panel cinema advertisements. They are normally composed of two B2-sized sheets arranged vertically, creating an image approximately 51 × 145 cm, with an overlap where the panels meet. Actual dimensions vary slightly between examples.

The format was suited to standing-board displays around cinema entrances and other prominent advertising positions. Unlike a conventional single-sheet poster, a complete STB depends on both sections surviving together.

Its construction also explains the horizontal meeting point visible in the assembled photograph. This is not a tear through one oversized sheet: it is the intended junction between the upper and lower panels.

This example retains both original sections separately and unbacked, allowing the fronts, reverses and individual edges to be examined. The complete vertical composition is a much more unusual presentation than the standard B2 format and gives the design an impressive physical presence.

Condition

Very Good+ to Excellent condition, with strong colour and a beautiful overall presentation.

The red title lettering remains vivid, the blue and purple campaign text is clear, and the photographic imagery retains attractive warmth and definition. The dark upper background and golden-toned street scene continue to provide the contrasts that make this design so effective.

There are light handling creases, small pinholes, very minor edge nicks and short tears. 

These characteristics are reflected in the Very Good+ to Excellent grade. This is not being presented as an unused or Near Mint example; its strengths are the complete artwork, rich colour, impressive scale and strong visual presentation.

The principal portrait imagery, enormous Japanese title and lower street montage remain the dominant features when the poster is viewed as a whole. The minor physical wear does not overwhelm the composition.

Please review the photographs carefully, as they show the exact poster offered for sale, including both sections and their reverses. Once framed as a complete STB, it will present beautifully.

Authentication

Guaranteed original Japanese first-release theatrical poster for Borsalino, 1970.

Complete in two original STB / tatekan sections, retaining the period Japanese campaign typography, Paramount distribution mark, Eastmancolor notation, production and music credits, and printed Eirin number 45173.

Not a reproduction, modern reprint or later commemorative poster.

A rare and exceptionally stylish piece of original French-cinema publicity in its Japanese form—combining a celebrated star pairing, striking colour and typography, and the imposing scale of the STB format.