Billy Liar (film)

Billy Liar
original film poster
Directed by	John Schlesinger
Produced by	Joseph Janni
Written by	Keith Waterhouse (novel and play) Willis Hall (play)
Starring	Tom Courtenay Julie Christie Wilfred Pickles Mona Washbourne
Music by	Richard Rodney Bennett
Cinematography	Denys Coop
Edited by	Roger Cherrill
Production company	Vic Films Productions Waterfall Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors Warner-Pathé
Release date	15 August 1963 (London, West End)
Running time	98 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£22,173 (USA)

Billy Liar is a 1963 British black-and-white CinemaScope comedy-drama film based on the 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse. Directed by John Schlesinger, it stars Tom Courtenay (who had understudied Albert Finney in the West End theatre adaptation of the novel) as Billy, and Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends. Mona Washbourne plays Mrs. Fisher, and Wilfred Pickles plays Mr. Fisher. Rodney Bewes, Finlay Currie and Leonard Rossiter also feature. The Cinemascope photography is by Denys Coop, and Richard Rodney Bennett supplied the score.

The film belongs to the British New Wave (or "kitchen sink drama") movement, inspired by the earlier French New Wave. Characteristic of the style is a documentary/cinéma vérité feel and the use of real locations (in this case, many in the city of Bradford in Yorkshire).

The film opened at the Warner Theatre in London's West End on 15 August 1963.

Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay) lives in Yorkshire with his parents (Wilfred Pickles and Mona Washbourne) and grandmother (Ethel Griffies), and works as an undertakers' clerk overseen by the rigid Mr. Shadrack (Leonard Rossiter). Billy wishes to get away from his stifling job and family life. To escape the boredom of his humdrum existence, he constantly daydreams and fantasises, often picturing himself as the ruler and military hero of an imaginary country called Ambrosia. He also makes up stories about himself and his family, causing him to be nicknamed "Billy Liar".