Yellow Dog (1973) UK Quad Poster #New

Alongside Brian Duffy and David Bailey, Terence Donovan reframed the 1960s through his lens, creating seminal images of that swinging decade. By the 70s, all of them had experimented with film, and here Donovan was given the go-ahead to direct a fish out of water kung-fu thriller, which would have made an interesting double bill with John Wayne's Brannigan (1975). A Japanese private eye (known as a yellow dog back home) is sent to London to track down a scientist working on a process to make fuel from water. When stuffed shirts at MI5 becomes involved, a clash is inevitable. Donovan was a big fan of Japanese culture, and even put up some of his own money for the film.

But what's unique about this is it was the last work of the man who invented the buddy action movie, the man who inspired the time dislocation of the French New Wave, and the man who wrote the original story for the biggest science fiction franchise ever. Shinobu Hashimoto was Kurosawa's go-to writer, working together 10 times. He was responsible for The Seven Samurai (1954), Rashomon (1950), The Hidden Fortress (1958), as well as Ikiru (1952), Throne of Blood (1957) and Harakiri (1962).

Condition: VERY FINE

Cast: Jirô Tamiya, Robert Hardy, Carolyn Seymour, Joseph O'Conor, Angela Thorne, Esmond Knight, Harold Innocent, John Welsh, Jerome Willis