Billy Liar

Billy Fisher, a young man living with his working-class family in a drab Yorkshire town, escapes the tedium of his life through elaborate daydreams in which he rules an imaginary nation called Ambrosia. By day he works as a clerk for a funeral director under the stern supervision of his boss Mr. Shadrack. His habitual dishonesty earns him the nickname 'Billy Liar.' His deceptions have compounded into a web of crises: he has pocketed postage money meant to mail advertising calendars and hidden the undistributed calendars in his wardrobe, fantasising about being sent to Wormwood Scrubs. He has falsely boasted that London comedian Danny Boon wants his comedy scripts and that he will soon be leaving for the capital — when Boon actually appears in town, he shows no interest. Most immediately, Billy has proposed to two different young women using the same ring: the naive, sheltered Barbara and the sharp-tongued, assertive Rita. He lies constantly to retrieve the ring from one so he can give it to the other. His father confronts him about his behaviour with Rita; the shock causes Billy's elderly grandmother to struggle to breathe, and Billy retreats into military-triumph fantasies to process his guilt. His ex-girlfriend Liz (Julie Christie) then returns. Free-spirited and perceptive, she alone accepts and even delights in Billy's imaginative inner life, though she has the courage to actually live freely — courage he lacks. Billy arranges dates with both Barbara and Rita at the same ballroom on the same evening; they discover his double-dealing and fight, and his lie about moving to London with Danny Boon is publicly exposed. After a tender romantic interlude with Liz, Billy agrees to go with her to London and start a new life. His resolve is tested when his grandmother is taken to hospital and dies. At the train station, bags in hand and Liz on the train, Billy loses his nerve: he tells her he must buy some milk and steps back onto the platform. The train departs with Liz watching from the window. Billy walks home alone through the dark streets, retreating once more into a fantasy of leading Ambrosia's army as the imaginary national anthem plays.

Sources: Wikipedia (Billy Liar film article), Web search synthesis (BFI, Letterboxd, IMDb overview, Emanuel Levy review)