Stars: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne, Finlay Currie, Rodney Bewes, Leonard Rossiter, Gwendolyn Watts, Ethel Griffies

Director: John Schlesinger

Summary: A young undertaker escapes from his mundane working-class life by entering a fantasy world where all his dream ambitions come true. As work, romance and family pressures build to almost intolerable levels, a young lady enters his drab life, offering the only chance he'll ever get to leave the past behind.

BILLY LIAR was an immediate sensation as first a novel, then a hit play--both written by Keith Waterhouse, who also served as screenwriter on the film. Director John Schlesinger's screen version was a British landmark in the fertile cinema of the late 1950s and early '60s, and launched the career of Julie Christie, who plays Liz, one of Billy's flames. A young Englishman named Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay) dreams of escaping from his dull working-class family and his dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. In constant conflict with his parents and with the many women with whom he is romantically involved (he is engaged to two), Billy regularly escapes into a rich fantasy world. Sometimes he imagines himself to be the powerful dictator of a small country. In another fantasy, he wants to become the scriptwriter for a popular comedian on television. Unfortunately, he often blurs the line between fantasy and reality, which is exactly the reason that everybody calls him 'Billy Liar'.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on April 24, 2006 12:22 PM

Written by the Mail's Keith Waterhouse , and directed by John Schlesinger , Billy Liar is a sparkling , witty and touching comedy about the fantasies of a Northern working - class lad dreaming of escape from his humdrum life . He retreats from reality by inventing a world of his own , where he is no longer a humble undertaker's
assistant but a ruthless dictator , and lies his way into trouble with 3
different girls . Stars the great Tom Courtney as Billy , plus the beautiful Julie Christie and a wonderful cast of British actors .

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1963
Release Date:	February 25, 2002
Runtime:	94 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 038141
Label:	Canal Plus
Keywords:	Billy, Comedy, Liar, General
Genre:	Comedy