- Billy Liar (film)
Infobox Film | name =Billy Liar
caption = original film poster
director =John Schlesinger
producer = Joseph Janni
writer =Keith Waterhouse (novel and play)Willis Hall (play)
starring =Tom Courtenay Julie Christie Wilfred Pickles Mona Washbourne
music =Richard Rodney Bennett
cinematography =Denys Coop
editing =
distributor = Continental Distributing Inc.
released =UK August 15 ,1963 USA December 16 ,1963
runtime = 98 min
country = UK
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:5661
imdb_id = 0056868"Billy Liar" is a 1963 film based on the novel by
Keith Waterhouse . It was directed byJohn Schlesinger and starsTom Courtenay (who had understudiedAlbert Finney in the West End theatre adaptation of the novel) as Billy andJulie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends.Mona Washbourne plays Mrs Fisher, andWilfred Pickles played Mr Fisher.Rodney Bewes ,Finlay Currie andLeonard Rossiter also feature. TheCinemascope photography is byDenys Coop , andRichard Rodney Bennett supplied the score.The film belongs to the
British New Wave (or "kitchen sink drama ") movement, inspired by the earlierFrench New Wave . Characteristic of the style is a documentary/"cinéma vérité " feel and the use of real locations (in this case the city ofBradford inYorkshire ). One sequence includes a very early use of a swear word ("pissed"), which was unusual by commercial film standards of the time; the word is uttered by Mona Washbourne.In 2004 the
magazine "Total Film " named "Billy Liar" the 12th in their list of the greatest British Films of all time.References
*B. F. Taylor, "The British New Wave: A Certain Tendency?" Manchester University Press, 2006
External links
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* [http://www.reelstreets.com/billy_liar.htm Billy Liar locations] ("ReelStreet.com"'s guide to the Bradford film locations)
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=121&eid=128§ion=essay Criterion Collection essay by Bruce Goldstein]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=121&eid=129§ion=essay Criterion Collection essay by A.O. Scott]
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