"The Threepenny Opera" (三文オペラ / Die Dreigroschenoper), Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1963, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA3

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1963 for Wolfgang Staudte’s film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera. The all-star international cast features Hildegard Knef, Curd Jürgens, Gert Fröbe, Lino Ventura, and a special musical turn by Sammy Davis Jr. (whose rendition of “Mack the Knife” is called out in the Japanese copy). Released in Japan by Tōwa (東和).

Design — artwork by Hisamatsu Noguchi (野口久光)
A superb hand-drawn sheet by the legendary Japanese poster artist and jazz critic Hisamatsu Noguchi, whose painterly style defined many 1950s–60s Tōwa campaigns (Fellini, Visconti, et al.). Noguchi’s loose ink lines and watercolor washes stage a bustling Soho street: the green-coated street singer belts to the crowd while Macheath (Mack) and Polly smolder in the foreground. The vertical German title “Die Dreigroschenoper” and rainbow-hued Japanese logotype 「三文オペラ」 give the piece its cosmopolitan, cabaret energy—perfect for Brecht/Weill’s sardonic world.

Additional notes
• Source material: Brecht’s 1928 play with music by Kurt Weill, including the standard “Mack the Knife.”
• Notable cast detail: Gert Fröbe would play Goldfinger the following year (1964), making this an appealing crossover piece for Bond collectors.
• Distributor mark: Tōwa roundel lower left.

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

This poster is an original Japanese theatrical B2 from the 1963 first-release campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

It is over 60 years old!

Certificate of Authenticity included.