“The Big Sleep” (三つ数えろ), Ultra‑Rare Original Japanese B2 First‑Release Poster — 1955 First Japanese Release (April 1955) — approx. 20.3 × 28.7 in (51.5 × 72.8 cm) P257

This is an original Japanese poster printed for the film’s first Japanese theatrical release in April 1955.

About the film
Directed and produced by Howard Hawks, from Raymond Chandler’s novel, with screenplay by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep stars Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, and Elisha Cook Jr. Japanese and broadcast reference sources summarize it as the story of private detective Philip Marlowe, hired to investigate a blackmail case involving General Sternwood’s younger daughter, only to be drawn into a maze of murder, gambling, pornography, and deception.

The Film & Its Place in Noir History
This film stands near the center of classic Hollywood noir. BFI describes it as a stylish and seductive Hawks adaptation whose place in the noir canon is secure, while TCM notes that it was conceived as the follow‑up pairing of Bogart and Bacall after To Have and Have Not and that the finished version was not released in final form for almost two years after production began. Its long afterlife was cemented when the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1997.

The Big Sleep in Japan
What makes this Japanese paper especially appealing is that it belongs not to the film’s original 1946 American rollout but to its delayed first Japanese release in 1955, giving it a very particular postwar import character. The Japanese title 三つ数えろ is one of the great period retitlings, and the headline copy across the top sells the film as a major crime picture in which Marlowe’s intellect is thrown into turmoil amid a bizarre family and a vortex of criminal intrigue.

Poster design
A striking, highly graphic Japanese design transforms the film into a vivid crime‑book tableau. A giant Bogart/Marlowe in a dark pinstripe suit dominates the sheet, revolver raised, while a smaller figure cowers beneath him. Lauren Bacall appears at lower left in a brilliant scarlet dress, and miniature action vignettes at the bottom suggest the film’s shifting alliances, violence, and blackmail. The oversized red title block 三つ数えろ, the contrasting vertical cast typography, and the pale blue ground give the poster extraordinary wall presence and a completely different visual identity from standard American paper.

Why collectors prize this example
Collectors respond strongly to this poster because it brings together nearly everything that defines classic noir collecting: Bogart, Bacall, Chandler, and Hawks, plus a country‑specific first‑release Japanese design that feels every bit as stylish as the film itself. The movie’s continued standing in the noir canon, along with its National Film Registry status, only deepens the appeal of an original Japanese first‑run sheet from the 1955 campaign.

Condition
Remarkably excellent for its age. The poster shows its original fold/storage lines, with the central vertical fold the most visible, along with softer horizontal fold impressions that do not materially detract from display. The front remains unusually fresh, with strong, saturated colour, crisp contrast, and very fine overall presentation. There is light, honest age wear: a few tiny foxing/age specks near the upper blank margin, minor edge and corner wear, and some gentle handling/pressure marks visible on close inspection. The blank verso shows even age toning, fold impressions, clear image show‑through, and a few light diagonal storage marks, but remains generally clean and stable. Overall, this is an exceptionally attractive survivor for a mid‑1950s Japanese B2, with outstanding display presence. Please review the supplied photographs carefully—shown is the exact poster offered.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

A rare opportunity to acquire an original first‑release Japanese B2 poster for The Big Sleep—a beautifully preserved, visually bold, and highly unusual piece of postwar Japanese noir poster design centered on Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe, Lauren Bacall’s star presence, and one of the great labyrinthine crime films in cinema history.