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:

France:U | Portugal:17 | Sweden:11 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Vic Films Productions

Trivia:

Keith Waterhouse wrote the novel "Billy Liar" inspired by the cartoon story "Walter Mitty" by James Thurber.

Quotes:

Arthur Crabtree:Hey, I got those things for you.
William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:What? What things?
Arthur Crabtree:Passion pills - what I said I'd get you.
William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:Let's have a look. Where'd you get them?
Arthur Crabtree:This mate of mine fetched them from Singapore.
William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:I bet they're bloody aspirins.
Arthur Crabtree:What?
William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher:[Billy swallows some] Eh, steady on! They'll give yuh the screamin' abdabs. One of these, two two-and-nines at the Regal, bag of chips and you're away!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One Day with Peter (2005)

Soundtrack:

Twisterella

better than the play

I saw 'Billy Liar' on stage in London, with Albert Finney, no less, in the role of Billy Fisher. As good as Finney was (check out Frear's 'Gumshoe' for starters), in the role, Tom Courtney, is better. Finney was too laconic. He had the wrong

'build'. Courtney, however, IS Billy Fisher. I can't quite put it into words, but that dour face of his, the pursed lips, and his loopy smile... who else but Tom

Courtney in the role. The plot is simplicity itself. Billy lives in a world of his own making. He's not connected with everyday events - he's a Yorkshire version of Walter Mitty - and who doesn't daydream every now and then? Director, John

Schlesinger (who gave us Darling & Midnight Cowboy), adds some surreal

touches (one comes to mind: Billy's reaction to another of his father's lectures). Julie Christie plays Liz. She understands Billy - thing is, Billy doesn't quite understand her, or if he does, it frightens the pants off him. For all Billy's posturing, he's a home boy at heart. "Billy Liar" is one of the truly great British films of the sixties. It's not often it appears on late night T.V., or on cable. If it does, or you see it on video at your local video store, get it out. See it. then wind it back and see it again!!