“Love in the Afternoon” (昼下りの情事), Original Japanese B2 Movie Poster 1989 Re‑Release, B2 Size (c. 51 × 73 cm) O572

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed for the 1989 re‑release of Love in the Afternoon, Billy Wilder’s 1957 romantic comedy starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn and Maurice Chevalier. Set in Paris and based on Claude Anet’s novel Ariane, jeune fille russe, the film follows a young detective’s daughter who becomes entangled with an aging American playboy her father has been hired to investigate. 

Film background
Ariane Chavasse, the inquisitive daughter of a private eye, overhears one of her father’s clients planning to kill his unfaithful wife’s lover, the notorious tycoon Frank Flannagan. Rushing to warn the playboy, Ariane ends up posing as a worldly femme fatale, inventing a string of imaginary lovers to pique his interest. Their affair unfolds across hotel suites, moonlit balconies and orchestra pits, with Wilder blending light comedy and bittersweet romance in the Lubitsch tradition. Though the film struggled in the U.S., it was warmly received in Europe and has since been reassessed as one of Wilder’s most elegant romances. 

Poster design
This Japanese B2 is a beautifully graphic piece that contrasts monochrome and colour. The upper half is a black‑and‑white still of the two leads lying on the carpet on opposite sides of an ornate table, the man on the phone while the young woman watches him thoughtfully from beneath the tablecloth. Below, a single vivid red carnation is printed in colour, its long stem running down the white field of the poster. Around the flower’s bloom, a cluster of small photo stills shows different moods and moments of the heroine. The film’s English title, “Love in the Afternoon,” is rendered in loose, painterly blue script across the bottom, while the Japanese title 昼下りの情事 sits beneath in bold red characters, joined by a small full‑length figure at a music stand. The design feels romantic yet modern, with the red flower acting as a visual metaphor for blossoming passion.

Condition
Very Good / Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale. 

This is an original 1989 Japanese theatrical re‑release poster, not a reproduction or a reprint. Certificate of Authenticity included.

It is over 36 years old!