An entertaining adaptation about a meek young man called Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay) .He is an ambitious but slacker young who lives an unusual secret fantasy life. Henpecked by his fiancees and family (Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne, Ethel Griffies) and being really questioned by his employer, Mr Shadrack (Leonard Rossiter) he flees his trouble life with dreams . He then flirts with a new cute girl (Julie Christie) , but the chaos continues when suffers the pangs of conscience and extreme imagination. As the young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant . One guy... three girls... one ring!
Poignant slices of English middle-class life are served expertly in this nicely performed story of a lazy young man who escapes dulling routine by retreating into fantasy . It contains parallels James Thurber's story ¨The secret life of Walter Mitty¨. This is an engaging and brooding story offering some intelligent vignettes of middle-class life with comedian touches. Based on Keith Waterhouse novel and play , scripted by Waterhouse himself and Willis Hall who also cowrote stage version. Stars Tom Courtenay giving a terrific acting as Billy Liar who's continuously chased by his two girlfriends , the sweet and virginal Barbara : Helen Fraser and the rough and ready Rita : Gwendolyn Watts. This agreeable comedy that holds your interest throughout, certainly is worth watch seeing for Julie Christie's brilliant, credible performance. The twenty minutes Julie Christie is on-screen are electric and worth movie. Support cast excels with stunning British actors , such as : Finlay Currie , George Innes, Mona Washbourne, Wilfred Pickles , Ethel Griffies and the always great Leinard Rossiter.
It displays evocative cinematography in black and white and CinemaScope by cameraman Denys Coop . The motion picture was well directed by John Schelsinger , at the time one of the main creators of the British Free Cinema . His first one was a 1960 documentary, Terminus (1961), which was sponsored by British-Transport, won him a British Academy Award and the Gold Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He made the transition to feature films in 1962, with the "kitchen sink" drama A kind of loving (1962), which got him noticed on both sides of the Atlantic. His next film, the Northern comedy Billy, liar (1963), was a success and began his association with actress Julie Christie, who had a memorable turn in the film. Christie won the Best Actress Academy Award and international superstardom and Schlesinger his first Oscar nomination as Best Director with his next film, the watershed Darling (1965), which dissected Swinging London. Subsequently, Schlesinger and Christie collaborated on Far from the madding crowd (1967), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel, in 1967. The movie was not a success with critics or at the box office at the time, though its stature has grown over time. Schelinger was a drama's (Far from the madding crowd , Day of Locust, Yanks, Midnight cowboy) expert and suspense (Believers , eye for eye , The innocents , Falcon and snowman) movies. Rating : 6.5/10.
Poignant slices of English middle-class life are served expertly in this nicely performed story of a lazy young man who escapes dulling routine by retreating into fantasy . It contains parallels James Thurber's story ¨The secret life of Walter Mitty¨. This is an engaging and brooding story offering some intelligent vignettes of middle-class life with comedian touches. Based on Keith Waterhouse novel and play , scripted by Waterhouse himself and Willis Hall who also cowrote stage version. Stars Tom Courtenay giving a terrific acting as Billy Liar who's continuously chased by his two girlfriends , the sweet and virginal Barbara : Helen Fraser and the rough and ready Rita : Gwendolyn Watts. This agreeable comedy that holds your interest throughout, certainly is worth watch seeing for Julie Christie's brilliant, credible performance. The twenty minutes Julie Christie is on-screen are electric and worth movie. Support cast excels with stunning British actors , such as : Finlay Currie , George Innes, Mona Washbourne, Wilfred Pickles , Ethel Griffies and the always great Leinard Rossiter.
It displays evocative cinematography in black and white and CinemaScope by cameraman Denys Coop . The motion picture was well directed by John Schelsinger , at the time one of the main creators of the British Free Cinema . His first one was a 1960 documentary, Terminus (1961), which was sponsored by British-Transport, won him a British Academy Award and the Gold Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He made the transition to feature films in 1962, with the "kitchen sink" drama A kind of loving (1962), which got him noticed on both sides of the Atlantic. His next film, the Northern comedy Billy, liar (1963), was a success and began his association with actress Julie Christie, who had a memorable turn in the film. Christie won the Best Actress Academy Award and international superstardom and Schlesinger his first Oscar nomination as Best Director with his next film, the watershed Darling (1965), which dissected Swinging London. Subsequently, Schlesinger and Christie collaborated on Far from the madding crowd (1967), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel, in 1967. The movie was not a success with critics or at the box office at the time, though its stature has grown over time. Schelinger was a drama's (Far from the madding crowd , Day of Locust, Yanks, Midnight cowboy) expert and suspense (Believers , eye for eye , The innocents , Falcon and snowman) movies. Rating : 6.5/10.