“Get Carter” (狙撃者), Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1972, Michael Caine / Britt Ekland, B2 Format (c. 51 × 73 cm) — H28 (Copy)

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster for the first Japanese release of Get Carter, which opened on 11 February 1972. Originally released in Britain in 1971, the film was distributed in Japan by MGM under the title 狙撃者 (Sogekisha, “The Sniper”). This distinctive Japanese design combines imposing gun imagery with Michael Caine’s unmistakable presence as Jack Carter.

Written and directed by Mike Hodges, adapting Ted Lewis’s novel Jack’s Return Home, the film stars Michael Caine, supported by Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, and John Osborne. Carter, a London gangster, returns to Newcastle after his brother’s suspicious death and pursues the truth through the city’s criminal underworld. Its uncompromising violence, location photography, and Caine’s controlled performance have established it as a landmark of British crime cinema. Roy Budd’s score contributes to its tense, economical style.

Printed on one B2 sheet, the composition is dominated by a blue-toned close-up of a gunman sighting through a telescopic rifle. The weapon extends across the page beneath a densely packed urban avenue, its buildings and traffic rendered in grainy brown and grey tones. The enlarged face and rifle give the design an immediate sense of surveillance and danger.

In the lower-left foreground, Caine walks along a quayside carrying a double-barrelled shotgun, dressed in a dark overcoat and suit. This smaller, full-length image creates a striking contrast with the enormous rifleman above, placing Carter within a composition shaped by pursuit and impending violence.

The Japanese title 「狙撃者」 dominates the lower right in heavy, sharply angled red lettering. Above, “Get Carter” appears in bright yellow, while the bottom credit strip names the principal cast, producer Michael Klinger, director Mike Hodges, author Ted Lewis, and composer Roy Budd. The MGM lion emblem sits in the bottom-right corner.

The red promotional copy begins:

「愛する者を失なった狼の遠吠えか…」
“Is that the howl of a wolf who has lost a loved one…?”

The dramatic shifts in scale, contrasting colours, and forceful Japanese typography make this an especially appealing example for collectors of Michael Caine, Mike Hodges, British gangster cinema, and original Japanese crime-film posters.

Condition: Excellent+

Please review all photographs, including the reverse, as they show the exact poster for sale.

B2 format: approximately 51 × 73 cm.
Stock code: H28.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.

About Japanese B2 posters
Japanese B2 posters, typically measuring around 51 × 73 cm, were a standard format for theatrical advertising. Designed for temporary cinema display, surviving examples preserve the distinctive artwork, typography, and promotional approaches of their original Japanese releases.