Billy Liar (1963)

Billy Fisher (Tom Courtenay's finest hour) is stuck in a dead-end job (he's an undertaker's clerk) in a Yorkshire town.

He's patronised by past generations, sneered at by his peers and gets engaged too often. 

He daydreams of escape, machine gun retribution and being Prime Minister of a fantasy land, Ambrosia.

When the free-spirited Liz (a radiant Julie Christie) finally persuades him to go south to London, but his nerve fails him at the last minute.

Courtenay is truly superb as the gentle but emotionally frail hopeful without any balls, and the free-spirited Christie is irresistible as usual, although ultimately not to Billy. 

I mean, given the choice, who would you rather be with? Julie Christie or Wilfred Pickles?

This must-see film is a faultless blend of social realism and satirical fantasy, and signalled the change in mood of the early sixties.

John Schlesinger's faultless adaptation of Keith Waterhouse's modern classic remains poignant, relevant and hugely entertaining to this day.

The movie was later re-done as a television series and was also made into a popular live musical for the stage. Ee by gum . . . it's grim up North!