“Suspicion” (断崖), Ultra-Rare Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1947, B3 Size, Alfred Hitchcock, Excellent+ Condition (Gallery)

An exceptionally scarce original Japanese B3 poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Printed for the film’s 1947 first Japanese theatrical release, this striking sheet belongs to the earliest years of Hollywood’s return to Japanese cinemas after the Second World War.

This is the earliest Japanese Hitchcock poster we have ever seen or handled. Its enormous ochre-and-black title, dramatic photographic image of Grant and Fontaine, illustrated cliff face, and original RKO Radio Pictures and Motion Picture Export Association markings make it an especially compelling survivor of early postwar film advertising.

Offered in Excellent+ condition for its age, the poster retains strong printing, distinctive period character and considerable visual impact. For collectors of Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine and early Japanese theatrical material, it represents an unusually significant discovery.

Date & Japanese Theatrical Release

Suspicion was originally released in the United States in 1941. Its first Japanese theatrical release followed on 11 February 1947, under the title 断崖 — Dangai, meaning “Cliff” or “Precipice.”

The intervening years are important to the poster’s historical context. The film reached Japanese audiences during the Allied Occupation, as American pictures returned to commercial exhibition following the wartime interruption.

This sheet was printed for that original 1947 first-release campaign, retaining its period RKO branding, MPEA export seal and distinctive Japanese typography.

The B3 format, with standard dimensions of approximately 36.4 × 51.5 cm / 14.3 × 20.3 inches, gives the composition a concentrated scale: the Japanese title occupies an extraordinary proportion of the sheet, while the principal actors remain immediately recognisable below.

About the Film

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock for RKO Radio Pictures, Suspicion follows Lina McLaidlaw, a sheltered young woman who falls in love with the charming and apparently irresistible Johnnie Aysgarth. After their marriage, she discovers that his effortless sophistication conceals debts, dishonesty and financial dependence.

As his explanations become increasingly difficult to believe, Lina begins to fear that the man she loves may be capable of murder—and that she could become his next victim.

Adapted from Francis Iles’s novel Before the Fact, the screenplay was written by Samson Raphaelson, Joan Harrison and Alma Reville. The supporting cast includes Nigel Bruce, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Dame May Whitty, with cinematography by Harry Stradling and music by Franz Waxman.

The film builds its suspense through uncertainty. A gesture, an unanswered question or an ordinary domestic object can acquire a threatening significance when seen through Lina’s increasingly anxious perspective. Its celebrated glass-of-milk sequence remains an especially memorable demonstration of Hitchcock’s ability to make something familiar appear sinister.

The Film’s Reception & Hitchcock’s Early Hollywood Years

Suspicion belongs to Hitchcock’s early Hollywood period. Already established through his British films, he was developing the American career that would produce many of cinema’s most celebrated psychological thrillers.

It marked his first collaboration with Cary Grant, beginning a partnership that later produced Notorious, To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest. Here, Grant’s familiar charm becomes a source of unease: the qualities that make Johnnie attractive also make his motives difficult to judge.

For Joan Fontaine, the film followed her leading role in Hitchcock’s Rebecca. Her performance in Suspicion won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 1942 ceremony, and remains the only acting performance in a Hitchcock-directed film to win an Oscar.

The film received three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Franz Waxman’s dramatic score.

Its Japanese reception is particularly relevant to this poster. Suspicion was ranked the No. 1 foreign film in the 1947 Kinema Junpo Best Ten, placing it at the head of one of Japan’s most important annual critical selections during its first local release.

Although its ending has long prompted debate, the film’s manipulation of trust, romantic attraction and fear remains central to its reputation. This poster therefore represents a film that enjoyed substantial recognition in Japan at the very moment it entered the country’s theatrical culture.

RKO, MPEA & Early Postwar Japan

Two printed identifiers give the sheet particular historical interest.

The RKO Radio Pictures emblem, positioned beside the Japanese title, identifies the American studio behind the film. The upper-left line reinforces this with:

「R・K・Oラジオ映画」
“An RKO Radio Picture.”

Near the lower edge appears the circular Motion Picture Export Association, Inc. — MPEA — seal.

The MPEA was established by the Motion Picture Association of America in 1945 to promote American films overseas. In occupied Japan, its activities were closely connected with Central Motion Picture Exchange — CMPE, commonly known as セントラル, through which American films were distributed during this period.

The emblem is therefore an export and distribution marking, rather than an age-classification certificate.

Together, the RKO and MPEA markings connect the poster to the organisation of Hollywood’s international distribution in the immediate postwar years. They are especially evocative on a sheet produced for a Japanese release in early 1947, less than eighteen months after the end of the war.

Poster Design

Monumental Japanese title: The two characters 断崖 dominate the upper half of the poster. Printed in warm ochre with deep black shadows, the lettering appears almost sculptural. Its angular forms and exaggerated depth give a relatively compact B3 sheet remarkable authority.

Typography echoed in the landscape: The illustrated cliff along the right edge provides a direct visual expression of the Japanese title. Its broken planes, dark recesses and brown tones echo the massive shaded characters above, linking the lettering and illustration into a coherent composition.

Grant and Fontaine in an ambiguous encounter: The lower section presents a large photographic image of the two stars. Fontaine leans towards Grant as he holds her forearm, creating an exchange that can suggest reassurance, restraint or distress. That ambiguity is particularly appropriate to a film built around uncertainty within a marriage.

Hitchcock prominently billed: The director’s name runs across the top of the sheet in bold Japanese lettering. Its scale makes authorship a major part of the advertisement, alongside the title and star image.

A restrained, distinctive palette: Ochre, brown and black are relieved by muted green-grey strokes across the background. Against the warm tone of the surviving paper, these colours give the design an atmospheric, almost weathered quality that complements its cliffside imagery.

Bilingual presentation: The tall, condensed English “SUSPICION” sits beneath the Japanese title and headline. It provides a strong horizontal counterpoint to the vertical cast billing and the cliff rising along the right-hand edge.

In our opinion, the design’s particular strength lies in how effectively it brings together psychological tension, dramatic typography and the literal imagery of the Japanese title.

Japanese Text & Translation

The headline beneath the title reads:

「最愛の良人が！妾を殺そうとしてゐる!!」
“My beloved husband is trying to kill me!!”

This places the advertisement directly within the wife’s fearful perspective. The older wording—良人 for “husband,” 妾 as a feminine first-person pronoun, and ゐる in place of modern いる—adds distinctive period character.

Across the top:

「アルフレッド ヒッチコック監督」
“Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.”

The vertical billing names Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, with an accompanying notice highlighting Fontaine’s achievement:

「この映画に依りアカデミイ主演女優賞獲得」
“Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for this film.”

The campaign thus combines a forceful promise of suspense with the prestige of an Academy Award-winning performance.

Rarity & Collector Significance

Original Japanese Hitchcock material from the immediate postwar years is exceptionally difficult to encounter. This B3 is the earliest Japanese poster for the director that we have personally seen or handled.

To the best of our knowledge, we are not aware of another example of this particular B3 design having appeared at public auction or in a publicly documented sale in either Japan or the West.

Its significance rests on the combination of its 1947 first Japanese release, distinctive artwork, period distribution markings and preservation. It brings together Hitchcock’s first film with Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine’s Oscar-winning performance, and a film that received Japan’s highest Kinema Junpo foreign-film ranking for 1947.

Like other scarce Japanese theatrical sheets from the first years after the war, it was created as temporary publicity. Its survival nearly eight decades later makes it a tangible record of how Hollywood cinema was presented to Japanese audiences during a period of profound change.

Condition

Excellent+ condition for its age.

The poster remains unbacked, retaining the surface and texture of its original paper.

Printing and colour: The ochre title and deep black shadows remain strong and clearly defined. The photographic image of Grant and Fontaine retains good detail, while the quieter green-grey background accents remain visible.

Edges and surface: Minor edge and corner wear, a few tiny pinholes / paper pricks, and isolated small marks are visible in the detailed photographs.

Paper and verso: The paper shows age toning, including some variation around the margins. The plain reverse retains visible image show-through, fold impressions and light age-related marking.

These signs of age and use are consistent with the poster’s history as a surviving theatrical advertisement. The principal lettering, star image and overall composition remain particularly effective.

Please review all supplied photographs carefully. They show the exact poster offered, including the front, reverse and detailed condition.

This is an original Japanese theatrical poster printed for the film’s first Japanese release in 1947.
It is not a reproduction or a modern reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.