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Billy Liar Reviews

1963

70
from 3784 members

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 .. Read more

Starring	Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne
Director	John Schlesinger
Genres	Comedy, Drama, Romance

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Most helpful member's review of Billy Liar
View all members' reviews (31)
- - 11
  - 0
  Definitely one of the best British films ever
  
  Capturing the change in Britain around the time it was made, it'd make a great film to watch before Blow-Up. A British classic which spoke volumes to me.<... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 143616
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  
  [Highly rated reviewer]
  - McClennan
  - 424 reviews
  - St Helens
  - 24 Aug 2005 at 11:40
Most recent members' reviews of Billy Liar
View all members' reviews (31)
- - 0
  - 0
  Well preserved piece of nostalgia
  
  Well preserved piece of nostalgia that showcases some brilliant acting - not sure about the rib-tickling humour - perhaps that has worn thin in the intervening ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1106863
- - ash53
  - 53 reviews
  - newbury
  - 30 Mar 2012 at 15:33
- - 0
  - 0
  British film at its best
  
  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide
  
  provoking portrayal of the industrial north, a Britain getting to grips with Post War landscape, literally and socio-economically. Billy Liar wants to escape ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1073803
- - a customer
  - 16 Dec 2011 at 02:06
- - 1
  - 1
  Sunday night, BBC2
  
  I loved Billy Liar when I first saw it on the television some time in the late 1970s. I was still living at my parents' house, doing a pre-PC office job ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 972809
- - DeathOfNarrativeCinema
  - 154 reviews
  - Wallingford
  - 13 Mar 2011 at 23:14
- - 0
  - 0
  Billy Liar
  
  A great nostalgia British film with lots of mad funny parts about a young lad with a vivid imagination and who cant make the break into the big wide world.
  
  Report this review
- 968077
- - a customer
  - CHESHIRE
  - 26 Feb 2011 at 14:45
- - 0
  - 1
  Billy Liar
  
  I enjoyed seeing this film again, having seen it many years ago in the cinema. I thought Tom Courtney and the other main actors were very good but the places ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 938343
- - Fakirkbairn
  - 10 reviews
  - Hertford
  - 09 Nov 2010 at 14:03
- - 0
  - 0
  This film is just simply superb
  
  A classic piece and it's superb in every way - acting at its very best - that's all you need to know.
  
  Report this review
- 912240
- - MoC
  - 15 reviews
  - Belfast
  - 07 Aug 2010 at 00:50
- - 0
  - 0
  Billy Wonderful
  
  This is actually a hugely important film in British cinema, forming a crucial bridge between the gritty kitchen sink dramas of the late 50s/ early 60s and the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 890101
- - RJNeb2
  - 772 reviews
  - London
  - 09 May 2010 at 17:31
- - 0
  - 0
  Billy Liar
  
  What a joy! In the best tradition of British films - well written, beautifully acted, realistically set in recognisable places and rarest of all, really funny... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 867087
- - a customer
  - Wales
  - 28 Feb 2010 at 10:47
- - 0
  - 0
  Almost heartbreaking
  
  A brutally honest depiction of broken dreams. Left me melancholic but still glad I saw it - extremely funny at times.
  
  Report this review
- 803258
- - a customer
  - Sleaford
  - 26 Aug 2009 at 19:29
- - 1
  - 0
  Classic
  
  I didn't actually watch this one because I have seen it several times before. This was one for my partner who hadn't seen it. I guess if you're ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 786390
- - Bullybass
  - 52 reviews
  - Exeter
  - 20 Jul 2009 at 00:26
View all members' reviews (31)

- - 11
  - 0
  Definitely one of the best British films ever
  
  Capturing the change in Britain around the time it was made, it'd make a great film to watch before Blow-Up. A British classic which spoke volumes to me.<... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 143616
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  
  [Highly rated reviewer]
  - McClennan
  - 424 reviews
  - St Helens
  - 24 Aug 2005 at 11:40
- - 3
  - 0
  One of the best British films....ever!
  
  Yeah, i know, something of a bold statement that. Billy Liar concerns the drab and dull life of Billy, still living with his parents and steadily wasting away ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 12320
- - Carl Davis
  - Nottingham, England
  - 26 Jul 2004 at 10:49
- - 2
  - 0
  best ever comedy !
  
  This is the best comedy of it's era - it is side-splittingly funny and Tom Courtney is brilliant in the lead role -his acting range is amazing ! It is also ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 15297
- - Diana Sanderson
  - Nottingham, England
  - 19 Aug 2004 at 13:15
- - 2
  - 0
  Fisher king
  
  ‘If I get down to the end of the street without opening my eyes, everything’ll be alright.’ That sums up Billy Fisher's philosophy – ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 307143
- - Maryco
  - UK
  - 01 Aug 2004 at 21:23
- - 1
  - 0
  British Comedy Classic
  
  Made at the end of the British New Wave cycle of films, Billy Liar borrows more from the French New Wave with a surreal playfulness as opposed to it's neo-... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 118023
- - Leon Collins
  - London
  - 26 Jun 2005 at 19:39
- - 1
  - 0
  grow up, move on
  
  This an MGB of a movie. That's right - the sports car, from the same era. At the time, an MGB was what everyone wanted. (I know - mine was Aztec yellow!) ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 599398
- - MrPicky
  - 31 reviews
  - Oswestry
  - 17 Jul 2008 at 12:45
- - 1
  - 0
  Classic
  
  I didn't actually watch this one because I have seen it several times before. This was one for my partner who hadn't seen it. I guess if you're ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 786390
- - Bullybass
  - 52 reviews
  - Exeter
  - 20 Jul 2009 at 00:26
- - 1
  - 1
  Interesting - touching
  
  I understand this film was considered cutting edge at the time it was made...I understand that the film made a 'social comment'. However, I found it a ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 184529
- - a customer
  - East Anglia
  - 13 Dec 2005 at 23:53
- - 0
  - 0
  Liar Liar
  
  Billy is a young man who lives in a dream world where he has invented his own country, Ambrosia.
  
  Ambrosia only exists to allow Billy to escape from ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 306939
- - Stawmn
  - Herts
  - 27 Jul 2004 at 09:23
- - 3
  - 3
  Big Issue?
  
  Hauntingly perspicacious, Billy Liar looks like comedy, but is in fact a critical dig at post-war youth. In his mind Billy lives in an imaginative universe ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 318052
- - Steph2576
  - SHEFFIELD
  - 06 Jan 2005 at 21:27

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- - Buy
- Billy Liar
  
  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 ...