“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” / 「女王陛下の007」, Original First-Release Japanese Movie Poster 1969, Ultra Rare, STB Tatekan Size (51 × 145 cm) S85

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” / 「女王陛下の007」, Original First-Release Japanese Movie Poster 1969, STB Tatekan Size (51 × 145 cm)
Japanese title: 「女王陛下の007」 (Joō Heika no 007)
Size: STB / Tatekan / approx. 20 × 57 in (51 × 145 cm)
Country / distributor: Japan / United Artists
Production: Eon Productions
Director: Peter R. Hunt
Starring: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas
Artwork: Robert McGinnis and Frank McCarthy; specially reconfigured for the Japanese STB campaign
First Japanese release: 13 December 1969
Condition: Very Good+ to Excellent; original theatre-used example, unbacked

Why this is a holy grail
Printed for the original 1969 Japanese theatrical release of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, this extraordinary STB / tatekan is one of the rarest large-format Japanese posters produced for the classic Bond series. The corresponding first-release Japanese B2 is already a highly desirable piece of 1960s Bond paper; the almost five-foot-tall STB belongs to a substantially rarer category.

STBs were produced in far smaller quantities than standard B2 posters and intended for prominent cinema use on tall standing boards. Their very purpose worked against their survival: the two sections were normally joined and pasted directly to rigid displays, exposed to repeated handling and ultimately discarded after the theatrical engagement. Complete, original, cinema-used examples for major 1960s Bond titles are exceptionally difficult to find.

This particular design is especially desirable because it is unique to the Japanese release in this configuration, ingeniously combining the celebrated painted artwork of Robert McGinnis and Frank McCarthy with Japanese typography and an additional photographic montage running across the lower part of the poster. It takes one of the great pieces of Bond campaign artwork and transforms it into a towering vertical action composition designed specifically for the Japanese cinema.

For collectors of original James Bond material, the combination is formidable: a first-release 1960s Bond, George Lazenby’s only appearance as 007, Diana Rigg as Tracy, one of the series’ most acclaimed films, McGinnis/McCarthy artwork, a Japan-specific design and the ultra-rare STB format.

Design highlights
The STB’s near five-foot height is exploited brilliantly. At the top, George Lazenby’s James Bond skis directly towards the viewer in black evening dress, pistol raised, alongside Diana Rigg’s Tracy in a deep violet ski outfit. These elegant central figures, painted by Robert McGinnis, are superimposed over Frank McCarthy’s spectacular Alpine action artwork, creating one of the most kinetic images in the entire Bond poster canon.

Below them, the composition appears almost to collapse down the mountain. Avalanches of snow, pursuing skiers, helicopters, gunfire, explosions and the bobsleigh action cascade diagonally through the centre of the poster. McCarthy’s extraordinary ability to convey speed and physical danger is particularly effective at this scale: instead of reading as a conventional rectangular poster, the STB feels like one uninterrupted descent through the film’s Swiss action sequences.

The artwork also records how central skiing was to the marketing of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Japanese promotional copy announces an escape from the summit of the Swiss Alps on skis, followed by a pursuit across Europe in the new Aston Martin. The imagery then delivers exactly that promise, turning the entire poster into a celebration of Bond spectacle, machinery and Alpine danger.

Japanese graphic design gives the international artwork a completely different character. At upper right, vivid red vertical typography announces the sixth entry in the 007 series and promotes it as offering the series’ greatest entertainment and biggest scale. On the opposite side, teal Japanese typography creates a visual counterweight to the figures. The expanses of cream surrounding the upper artwork allow the colours and painted figures to remain unusually bold and modern.

The lower half is anchored by the enormous vermilion title 「女王陛下の007」, with the oversized 007 numerals dominating the width of the sheet. The comparatively restrained 「テクニカラー／パナビジョン」 notation sits within the numerals, while the English JAMES BOND 007 / ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE logo appears below.

The final section shifts from illustration into photographic montage, incorporating imagery from the film’s destructive winter motor chase and its principal characters. This mixture of painting, photography and enormous Japanese lettering is characteristic of the best Japanese poster design of the period, but the scale of the STB makes the effect particularly dramatic.

The result is far more than an enlarged B2. It is a purpose-built Japanese composition, nearly five feet tall, in which typography, character artwork and action are orchestrated vertically. Once framed, it makes an extraordinary centrepiece.

Cultural impact
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service occupies a unique position within James Bond history. It was the sixth Eon Productions Bond film and the first following Sean Connery’s initial departure from the role. Australian model George Lazenby, despite having virtually no acting experience, was selected as the new James Bond and would ultimately play the character only once, making original campaign material from the film inseparable from one of the franchise’s most fascinating transitions.

Opposite him was Diana Rigg, already internationally famous as Emma Peel in The Avengers. Her Contessa Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo is one of the series’ most important female characters: intelligent, independent and ultimately the woman James Bond marries. Their relationship gives the film an emotional seriousness almost unprecedented in the early series, culminating in one of Bond cinema’s most famous and tragic endings.

Telly Savalas plays Ernst Stavro Blofeld, operating from the spectacular mountaintop Piz Gloria complex in Switzerland and threatening the world through biological warfare. The setting gave director Peter R. Hunt the opportunity to stage some of the series’ most ambitious Alpine action: high-speed skiing, avalanches, cable cars, helicopters, winter motor racing and the climactic bobsleigh pursuit.

Hunt himself was central to the development of the Bond cinematic style. Having worked extensively on the earlier films as an editor and subsequently as an action / second-unit filmmaker, OHMSS marked his sole Bond feature as director. His unusually fast cutting, physical action and more emotionally grounded approach give the film a character distinct from both the Connery films that preceded it and the Roger Moore era that followed.

The film also contains one of John Barry’s most acclaimed Bond scores, including the propulsive instrumental On Her Majesty’s Secret Service theme and Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All the Time in the World,” whose melody becomes inseparable from Bond and Tracy’s relationship. Armstrong is prominently credited on the Japanese poster itself, demonstrating the importance of the song to the contemporary campaign.

Initially overshadowed in popular memory by Connery’s Bond films, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service has undergone an extraordinary reassessment. It is now widely regarded by Bond enthusiasts and many critics as one of the finest films in the entire series, praised particularly for its Alpine photography, action filmmaking, Fleming-faithful story and emotional depth. That reassessment has naturally increased interest in original first-release material—especially exceptional international formats such as this Japanese STB.

Condition
Very Good+ to Excellent. This is an authentic theatre-used example, and it retains remarkably strong visual presentation for a large-format Japanese cinema poster from 1969.

The colours remain exceptionally vibrant and well saturated. The deep blues and greens of the Alpine sequences, brilliant white snow, violet of Tracy’s ski outfit and powerful red Japanese typography remain fresh, with no significant fading apparent. Viewed as a complete poster, it presents extremely well.

As expected from an STB that was actually used for theatrical display, there is some minor localized paper loss, small tears, tiny pinholes / mounting points, edge wear and handling creasing. 

The poster was manufactured in two separate sections, which are joined across the horizontal overlap as intended. Some light wear is visible around the joining area, entirely consistent with the way STB posters were originally assembled for display.

Importantly, these defects are localized rather than visually dominant. There is no major loss to the principal portraits, title or overall composition, and the strength of the colour means that the poster remains exceptionally impressive when viewed normally.

The reverse shows light age toning, handling marks and period handwritten Japanese notation, consistent with the poster having passed through a working cinema / theatrical distribution environment. Rather than detracting from the object, this surviving operational evidence forms part of its history as an original 1969 advertising piece.

The poster remains unbacked and in its original theatre-used state. Given the rarity of complete STBs for important Bond titles, its survival in this condition is significant. We have, however, fully taken the minor paper loss, tears, pinholes and other evidence of previous display into account when pricing this example.

Please review the photographs carefully, as they show the exact poster offered for sale.

Authentication
Guaranteed original; first-release Japanese STB / tatekan produced for the film’s 1969 Japanese theatrical release. Not a reproduction or later reissue.

Period identifiers include the original United Artists markings, Japanese first-release typography and credits, Technicolor / Panavision notation, McGinnis and McCarthy campaign artwork, two-section STB construction and contemporary cinema-use characteristics.

About STB (Tatekan) posters
Japanese STB / tatekan posters were large standing-board theatrical advertisements, normally produced as two separate sheets designed to be joined vertically. A completed example measures approximately 51 × 145 cm—around 20 × 57 inches—almost five feet tall and essentially equivalent to two Japanese B2 posters placed one above the other.

They were intended for major promotional positions outside cinemas and in entrance halls rather than for distribution to the public. Only a limited number were required for each theatre, meaning print runs were substantially smaller than for ordinary B2 posters.

Their survival rate is lower still. STBs were routinely pasted onto wooden or board supports and frequently damaged during installation or removal. Once a film completed its engagement, the advertisements had little practical value and were normally discarded. Consequently, surviving examples often show considerable adhesive damage, paper loss, trimming or heavy restoration, while some titles simply do not appear on the market for years.

For important 1960s Bond films, this disparity becomes especially pronounced. A Japanese first-release B2 is rare; a complete first-release STB is substantially rarer. A theatre-used example such as this retains the physical evidence of exactly what these posters were created to do: advertise James Bond on an enormous scale at a Japanese cinema in 1969.

An exceptionally rare, spectacular piece of original James Bond history and one of the great Japanese large-format poster designs of the 1960s.