Billy Liar

Dir: John Schlesinger

1963

*****

An integral part of the British New Wave, or Kitchen Sink Drama as they were more affectionately known, Billy Liar is something of an odd one out in that it deals in fantasy just as much as it deals with reality. I adore Keith Waterhouse’s classic and I’m glad I eventually saw John Schlesinger’s adaptation some years after first discovering it and its follow up (Billy Liar on the Moon). The novel was first published in 1959 and the West End play followed soon after with Albert Finney staring in the title role. Schlesinger’s film is more of an adaption of the play, rather than of the novel, but all three are pretty close with nothing added in either film or play and not much missing from the book. Most of the film’s cast starred in the West End production but Schlesinger decided to cast Tom Courtenay, Finney’s understudy, instead of Finney himself as he found Courtenay less of a physically imposing figure than Finney and therefore more believable as a dreamer. It is not near impossible to see anyone other than Courtenay in the lead role. Billy Fisher lives in Yorkshire with his parents (played by Wilfred Pickles and Mona Washbourne) and grandmother (Ethel Griffies), and works as an undertakers' clerk overseen by the rigid Mr. Shadrack (the unmistakable 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". Billy has further complicated his life by proposing to two very different girls, the sheltered, virginal Barbara (Helen Fraser) and the tough, brassy Rita (Gwendolyn Watts). He has given the same engagement ring to each girl and lies constantly to get it back from one and give it to the other, eventually resulting in a family row when Rita discovers he has lied about the ring being at the jewellers. Billy also finds himself attracted to his former girlfriend Liz (Julie Christie), who has just returned to town after extensive travels. Liz is a free spirit who, unlike anyone else in town, understands and accepts Billy's imagination. However, she has more courage and confidence than Billy, as shown by her willingness to leave her home town and enjoy new and different experiences. At work, Billy is tasked with mailing out a large shipment of advertising calendars to potential customers, but instead hides the calendars and keeps the postage money. He is eventually found out by Shadrack, who refuses to let him resign from his position until he pays back the postage money. Billy aspires to get a more interesting job as a scriptwriter for comic Danny Boon (Leslie Randall), but when Boon comes to town, he is not interested in Billy's overtures. Under pressure, Billy ends up making dates with both Barbara and Rita to meet each one on the same night at the same local ballroom. There, the two girls discover the double engagement and begin fighting with each other. Meanwhile, Billy encounters Liz and shares a romantic interlude with her outside, during which he proposes to her and she accepts. She urges him to accompany her to London that evening, and he goes home to pack his bags, only to find that his grandmother has fallen ill and been taken to hospital. Billy joins his mother at the hospital just in time to learn that his grandmother has died. He then continues to the station to meet Liz, and the couple board the train, but at the last minute Billy disembarks with the excuse of buying some milk to drink on the journey. By the time he gets back to the train, it is pulling out, with a rueful Liz at the window and his suitcase left behind on the platform. Alone, Billy walks the dark deserted road back to his home, imagining himself leading the marching army of Ambrosia. Keith Waterhouse wrote the novel Billy Liar after he was inspired by the cartoon story Walter Mitty by James Thurber. Unlike Walter Mitty and many other stories about fantasists, Billy Liar is unique in that there is no happy ending – a real fantasists is just that, they don’t act on their ideas, they simply imagine another life for themselves to cope with the one they already have. The script is wonderful and the performances are a perfect match, thanks to a mix of well-seasoned greats and fresh talent. The gritty reality of the day and the relationship between the three generations was spot on and it was a far more honest depiction than most dramas of its ilk. The fantasy scenes make for a brilliant contrast, with settings and characters switching to opposites of themselves and Billy finding only positives in Ambrosia in things that are only negative in real life. It’s funny and imaginative but also rather poignant. It is now regarded as one of the greatest British films ever made, something I whole-heartedly agree with. It is, in my opinion, a film without fault.