Billy Liar (1963)

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Keith Waterhouse (screenplay) and
Willis Hall (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 December 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A lazy, irresponsible young clerk in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.

Plot Keywords:

Ambrosia | Train | Imagination | Fantasy World | Immaturity

Awards:

Nominated for 6 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Tom Courtenay	...	William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher
Wilfred Pickles	...	Geoffrey Fisher
Mona Washbourne	...	Alice Fisher
Ethel Griffies	...	Grandma Florence
Finlay Currie	...	Duxbury
Gwendolyn Watts	...	Rita
Helen Fraser	...	Barbara
Julie Christie	...	Liz
Leonard Rossiter	...	Emanuel Shadrack
Rodney Bewes	...	Arthur Crabtree
George Innes	...	Stamp
Leslie Randall	...	Danny Boon
Patrick Barr	...	Insp. MacDonald
Ernest Clark	...	Prison Governor
Godfrey Winn	...	Disc Jockey
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander Browne	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Jack Cunningham	...	Ticket Examiner (uncredited)
Muriel Day	...	Singer - Dance Hall (uncredited)
Sheila Fearn	...	Telephonist (uncredited)
George Ghent	...	Danny's PRO (uncredited)
Reginald Green	...	Mr. Matthieson (uncredited)
Natalie Kent	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Margaret Lacey	...	Mrs. Matthieson (uncredited)
Harry Landis	...	Man on Train (uncredited)
Leslie Lawton	...	Youth (uncredited)
Ted Morris	...	Funeral Driver (uncredited)
Bryan Mosley	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Elizabeth Murray	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Robin Parkinson	...	Jeweller's Assistant (uncredited)
James Payne	...	Man in Station Cafe (uncredited)
Graham Rigby	...	Supermarket Manager (uncredited)
Jessie Robins	...	Large Woman in Hospital (uncredited)
David Scase	...	Man in the Record Shop (uncredited)
John Schlesinger	...	Officer in Dream (uncredited)
Neville Smith	...	Youth (uncredited)
Elaine Stevens	...	Danny's Secretary (uncredited)
John Tordoff	...	Youth in Wimpey Bar (uncredited)
Anna Wing	...	Mrs. Crabtree (uncredited)
William Wymar	...	Army Man (uncredited)

Directed by
John Schlesinger

Writing credits
Keith Waterhouse		(screenplay) and
Willis Hall		(screenplay)
Keith Waterhouse		(novel)
Keith Waterhouse		(play) and
Willis Hall		(play)

Produced by
Joseph Janni	....	producer
Jack Rix	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Richard Rodney Bennett

Cinematography by
Denys N. Coop		(director of photography) (as Denys Coop)

Film Editing by
Roger Cherrill

Casting by
Miriam Brickman

Art Direction by
Ray Simm

Makeup Department
Joyce James	....	hair stylist
Bob Lawrance	....	makeup artist (as Robert Lawrence)

Production Management
Charles Blair	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Ernst	....	assistant director
Jim Brennan	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ken Bridgeman	....	set dresser
Arthur Adaway	....	stagehand (uncredited)
Martin Atkinson	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Tom Brooker	....	props (uncredited)
Clifford Cross	....	stand-by carpenter (uncredited)
Daniel Culinane	....	plasterer (uncredited)
John Feehan	....	props (uncredited)
Dennis Maddison	....	property buyer (uncredited)
Phil Meighan	....	props (uncredited)
John Nethersole	....	plasterer's laborer (uncredited)
Bill Read	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Malcolm Cooke	....	sound editor
John Cox	....	sound recordist
Peter Handford	....	sound recordist
Douglas Barnett	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Tom Buchanan	....	boom operator (uncredited)
George Widdows	....	sound maintenance (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Atcheler	....	camera operator
Neil Binney	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Fred Burrows	....	electrician (uncredited)
John Campbell	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Wilfred Campbell	....	electrician (uncredited)
Archie Eyers	....	electrician (uncredited)
Percy Fisher	....	electrician (uncredited)
Harry Gillard	....	still photographer (uncredited)
John Illisley	....	electrician (uncredited)
Bert Lott	....	grip (uncredited)
Frank Robertson	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
Mike Rutter	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Kesra Singh	....	electrician (uncredited)
Ralph Weighell	....	electrician (uncredited)
Frank Willis	....	electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ron Beck	....	wardrobe master
Laura Nightingale	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Jack Gardner	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)
Jean Short	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
John Hollingsworth	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Jack Laxton	....	driver: camera car (uncredited)

Other crew
Don Higgins	....	advisor: fantasy sequences
Pamela Mann	....	continuity
Mary Franks	....	secretary to publicist (uncredited)
John Goldstone	....	personal assistant to producers (uncredited)
Diana Harding	....	secretary to producer (uncredited)
Ann Skinner	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Edna Tromans	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Vic Films Productions
• Waterfall Prouctions (in association with)

Distributors

• Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (1963) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner-Pathé Distributors (1963) (UK) (theatrical)
• Continental Distributing (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lumiere Pictures (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS) (Pan and Scan for Lumiere)
• Rialto Pictures (2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Sweden:11 | Iceland:L | France:U | Portugal:17 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

37 Hinchcliffe Avenue, Baildon, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

Vic Films Productions

Trivia:

Topsy Jane can still be seen in long-shot in some sequences, notably when Billy and Liz wave to the people of Ambrosia from the balcony.

Quotes:

William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:[wearning a monocle and speaking in a posh voice] Cabinet change imminent I see.
William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:You'll be bloody imminent if you don't start getting up in the morning.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Midsomer Murders: A Tale of Two Hamlets (#6.4)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Twisterella

Good performances overcomes well worn themes.

A north of England funeral clerk is bored with his life and builds a world of elaborate lies to compensate for it.

A classic of the English kitchen sink period, but it will not have full impact unless you are coming to it fresh and without prejudice. As someone that was forced to read the book several times at school I find the material and the morals worn thin - especially when it was later turned in to a TV series and then a musical!

(The reason why it is so popular is that is about the limits of (English) working class life and, and if you are working class yourself, you are supposed to be able to "relate to it." Other suchlike novels (and later films) include Kes (which is better), A Taste of Honey (which is far better) and the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (which is even better still.)

Good portrait of grey working class life in the sixties (if you are at all interested) and a template for a million films and television series to come (all barbs, mini jokes and evasions over the family breakfast table). While Billy is not always likeable, the people around him seem to put up with him and give him a second, third and fourth chance. We are not really living in the world of heroes and villains.

If you live in a world of lies, you drown in a world of lies, but I knew that without seeing this film. A lot is also cribbed from the Secret Life of Walter Mittey - another film that didn't live up to the book.

Thankfully lead Tom Courtney's performance is first class, indeed I have never seem him get a bad notice in anything. Even today when he himself is the parent doing the "what time do you call this?"

(Check out "Let Him Have It" if you want to experience the above.)

While a good and watchable film with high production values, I recommend you read the Keith Waterhouse novel which paints the period between childhood and being an adult in detailed and believable colours.