The British cinema has always thrown up iconic and enduring films over the years. How does one define what is and isn’t a classic? As time has gone on, sometimes we forget the very essence of what makes a classic British film a classic.
John Schlesinger‘s 1963 comedy-drama BILLY LIAR, adapted from Keith Waterhouse‘s 1959 novel and subsequently a 1960 stage play co-written with Willis Hall, evokes the essence of a time just before the dawn of the true ‘Swingin’ Sixties‘ when everyone who was anyone could make it and the line between the haves and have-nots was disintegrating.
For Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay), a solid fantasy life – in which he visualises himself as a master of everything whilst working for none as a classic dictator role – counterbalancing an increasingly depressing reality working for a funeral directors seems to be the way out. Heightened and hopeful that big star comic Danny Boon (Leslie Randall) will take on his untried services as a scriptwriter, his boss, Shadrack (Leonard Rossiter) is not convinced he will make it, given that he has flouted the responsibility of distributing calendars by distributing them to his own home wardrobe whilst pocketing the postage money.
Complicating matters is the impending engagement and prospect of small-town bigamist to two local girls, Barbara (Helen Fraser) and Rita (Gwendolyn Watts), to whom he seemingly has promised a ring of commitment.
Into the mix comes ex-girlfriend and rolling stone ‘It’ Girl Liz (Julie Christie, wowing into a BAFTA nomination at the time for her small but pivotal role and stardom to follow in the likes of DARLING, DON’T LOOK NOW and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO amongst others) who tries to persuade Billy that he has a chance to get away.
However, the lure of the big city and fortune in London is compounded by the awakening reality of a more sobering and grounded existence….
One or two eyebrow-raising images at the outset of this film in the numerous fantasy elements which evoke a different era will not dilute the enjoyment of this wonderfully accomplished and still-universally relevant film about troubled youth.
The bittersweet sadness that one empathises towards Billy only serves to make his predicament all the more funny and a sense of poor embarrassment on his behalf helps to make the film a timeless experience.
The themes of desire to escape and the essence of working class values are still beholding here in a film that captures perfectly the time coupled with some excellent anamorphic cinematography courtesy of Denys Coop.
Courtenay is terrific in the title role, backed up by great support from the likes of Rossiter, Cbristie and a pre-LIKELY LADS Rodney Bewes. Wilfred Pickles and Mona Washbourne also excel as Billy’s oppressive parents, Geoffrey and Alice.
BILLY LIAR bows in 4K re-release from Studio Canal UK from August 24th, 2026, as part of their ‘Vintage Classics’ brand:
