Billy Liar Page #3

Synopsis: A young British clerk in a gloomy North Country undertaker's office, Billy is bombarded daily by the propaganda of the media that all things are for the asking. This transparently false doctrine, coupled with the humdrum job and his wild imagination, leads him on frequent flights to "Ambrosia," a mythical kingdom where he is crowned king, general, lover or any idealized hero the real situation of the moment makes him desire. His vacillating commitment and post-adolescent immaturity have created situations which make Ambrosia all the more attractive. He's succeeded in becoming engaged to two different girls, simultaneously, while in love with a third, Liz. He's in hot water with his employer, having spent a rather large sum of postage money on his personal frivolities. And last, but not least, his dream of becoming a highly-paid, famous scriptwriter in London seems doomed to failure. The only person in his life capable of bringing him down to earth is Liz, and she's having a difficult t
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): John Schlesinger
Production: Continental
  Nominated for 6 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Metacritic:
82
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1963
98 min
1,935 Views


Not only MPs, Fisher.

- From us all.

- Thank you.

Good bye.

- Been nice knowing you.

- Bye.

Welcome home, Billy.

- Come on, lad. Come on.

- All right.

- Aren't you ready yet?

- Just a minute.

You'll never get to work

at this rate, never mind London.

You'll set off one of these days

and meet yourself coming back.

- Just off, Mother.

- Don't hurry yourself.

'It's five to ten. '

Er, actually, I've just been thinking.

I might as well give me notice in today

if I'm going to London.

You want to make up your mind

what you do want to do.

Well... work for Danny Boon.

How do you know? You've never

done that sort of thing before.

You can't switch and change

and swap about

just when you feel like it.

- You've got your living to earn now.

- You worry too much.

Ta-ra, Gran. Ta-ra, Mum.

'An Ashanti tribesman

had a small son. '

- Good morning, Billy.

- Oh, good morning.

'If I can get to the end of the street

without opening me eyes,

'everything will be all right. '

You do know

that's the late Mr. Parkin in there?

We don't want a recurrence

of last week's fiasco, do we?

- Have you checked the oil at all?

- I have.

Extraordinary time to come to work.

I'm sorry, Mr. Shadrack,

only I spilt hot water down me arm.

I've been to the doctor's.

Must be going-home time.

Fisher's here.

- How long has Bighead been here?

- All night, I should think.

- Where did you say you'd been?

- To the doctor's.

- To the doctor's?

- To the doctor's.

- Kindly tell these good people why.

- I don't like the look of my wife.

I wish I'd come with you.

I hate the sight of mine.

Ha, ha, ha!

- Haven't you got work to do?

- Yes, Mr. Shadrack.

I'm trying to run

an up-to-date organisation here.

Far too much laxity.

Oh, Stamp,

I'd like to see your ashes list.

Watch it.

He's been going through all the books.

- He's in a terrible temper.

- Is he?

- Has he balanced the petty cash yet?

- I don't know.

- How much have you fiddled?

- Shut your head.

He thinks postage money

is part of his wages.

I've got something unpleasant

to say to Mr. Shadrack today.

You've got something

unpleasant to say?

- Anything I say would be unpleasant.

- Kindly leave the undertakers.

I'm giving in my notice today.

- You are?

- Wonderful comedian!

Shadrack and Duxbury,

funeral furnishers.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, madam.

When shall we call for him?

Shadrack to funeral fleet.

Shadrack to funeral fleet.

'Are you receiving me? Over. '

Receiving you loud and clear. Over.

State your position, please.

State your position. Over.

We're just turning into Sheepgate

from the memorial.

Traffic at Coal Lane junction

is holding us up. Over.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Keith Waterhouse

Keith Spencer Waterhouse CBE (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist, and the writer of many television series. more…

All Keith Waterhouse scripts | Keith Waterhouse Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Billy Liar" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/billy_liar_4102>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Billy Liar

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.