Billy Liar
Billy Liar (
1959) is a
novel by
Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a
play,
film,
musical and
TV series.
The semi-comical story is about Billy Fisher, a working-class 19-year-old living with his parents in the fictional town of Stradhoughton in
Yorkshire. Bored by his job as a lowly clerk for an
undertaker, Billy spends his time indulging in
Walter Mitty-like fantasies and dreams of life in the big city as a comedy writer. However, with three girlfriends on the go, his tendency to overimagination comes at a cost.
William "Billy" Fisher - Billy is 19, and living with parents Alice and Geoffrey, and his grandmother, Florence Boothroyd. Billy lies compulsively to everyone he comes across, whether it's the claim that his father lost the chance to become "world champion" after a leg-amputation or telling his parents that his friend's mother is pregnant. Billy works as a clerk for undertakers Shadrack & Duxbury. He is engaged to three girlfriends in the play, and is always talking about a job offer writing scripts in London for "Danny Boon", a comedian.
Alice Fisher - Billy's mother. She rarely sits down in the play, constantly working hard to keep the house tidy and look after her husband, her mother and Billy.
Geoffrey Fisher - Billy's father. Geoffrey uses the word "bloody" in his sentences so often it has lost all meaning. Geoffrey has been a successful removals
businessman so his family live
middle class lives despite his
working class background. Geoffrey has a short temper, but otherwise rarely shows emotion.
Florence Boothroyd - Billy's grandmother. Florence talks to the sideboard more than her own family, and is always drinking out of a pint-pot. Florence falls ill in Act 2 and is taken upstairs. By Act 3 she has died.
Arthur Crabtree - Billy's friend. Arthur works at Shadrack & Duxbury's with Billy. When we first see Arthur and Billy together in Act 1, they adopt thick northern accents and engage in buffoonery, imitating their elders. Despite this tomfoolery, Arthur's mood towards Billy changes in Act 3. He does not appear in Act 2.
Barbara - One of Billy's
fiancees. Barbara is prudish, always eating
oranges and harbours dreams of living with Billy in a cottage in Devon, with "little Billy and little Barbara".
Rita - Rita is 17, is short, but comes across as a "hard lass". She is engaged to Billy, and has a habit of mimicking Billy every time he offers an excuse for her missing engagement ring. Unbeknown to her, it is on Barbara's finger. She appears in Acts 2 and 3.
Liz - A scruffy girl in need of a new skirt, she is nevertheless the one who truly understands Billy, and the only one he really has a genuine interest in. Before her appearance, Billy pretends he doesn't have much interest in her, but it is clear when she appears that he is still smitten with her.
In
1960, the novel's author,
journalist Waterhouse, cowrote a three-act stage version with
Willis Hall. The action took place on a single set combining the living room, hallway and porch of the Fisher household. The first production opened in the
West End of
London with
Albert Finney in the title role. It has since been produced all over the world, and has become a favourite with
amateur groups.
The play is set in one Saturday: Act 1 in the morning, Act 2 in the early evening and Act 3 at night.
|
Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie as Billy and Liz in the 1963 film version of Billy Liar |
The
1963 film was directed by
John Schlesinger and featured
Tom Courtenay (who had understudied
Albert Finney in the West End play) as Billy and
Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends.
Mona Washbourne played Mrs Fisher, and
Wilfred Pickles played Mr Fisher.
Rodney Bewes,
Finlay Currie and
Leonard Rossiter also had roles.
The style of the film is archetypal
British New Wave (and "
kitchen sink"), being inspired by the earlier
French New Wave. Characteristic of the style is a
documentary/
cinéma vérité feel and the use of real locations (in this case the city of
Bradford in
Yorkshire).
One sequence had a very early use of a swear word, at least by commercial film standards. Mona Washbourne is heard to say the word '
pissed'.
The
Cinemascope photography was by
Denys Coop, and
Richard Rodney Bennett supplied the score.
In
2004 the
magazine Total Film named it the 12th greatest British film of all time.
The novel was also used as the basis for a television
sitcom series of the
1970s starring
Jeff Rawle. It has never been
rerun, although the first series is due to be released on DVD in August 2006. An
American adaptation entitled
Billy and starring
Steve Guttenberg aired briefly in 1979. A successful
West End musical (entitled simply
Billy) starred
Michael Crawford and, in her West End debut,
Elaine Paige. The book was by well-known British sitcom writers
Dick Clement and
Ian La Frenais, where music and lyrics were by
film composer John Barry and
Don Black respectively.
Waterhouse later wrote a sequel called
Billy Liar on the Moon.
"Billy Liar" is also the title of the second track off of
Her Majesty The Decemberists by
The Decemberists and the first track of a
CD single of the same name.
Morrissey was heavily influenced by the novel, "borrowing" many lines from it, in particular for
The Smiths song "William, It Was Really Nothing".
"Billy Liar" is also the name of a character that appears on Nottingham Hospitals' Radio's
Something for the Weekend show. This Billy is a bit of a namedropper and alleges to know a number of celebrities - mostly Z-list and has a brother called Liam and another relative called Ernest.
*
*
Billy! the Musical (
Broadway.com article)
*
Billy Liar locations (
ReelStreet.com's guide to the Bradford film locations)
*
Criterion Collection essay by Bruce Goldstein*
Criterion Collection essay by A.O. Scott
