A daydreaming undertaker’s clerk who can’t escape his Yorkshire town is heading back to the big screen in pristine 4K. Film Forum opens a new restoration of John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar on August 14 for a one-week run.

Tom Courtenay stars as Billy Fisher, a would-be comedy writer stuck between a nagging family, a pompous boss, two fiancées, and an overactive imagination. His fantasies range from addressing stadium crowds in military regalia to desperately trying to get rid of his employer’s leftover calendars. Then Julie Christie shows up, swinging her purse through town in full Mod mode, offering him a way out to London.

The 1963 British New Wave comedy marked Christie’s breakthrough before she became a superstar. Schlesinger adapted it from the West End hit (and Keith Waterhouse’s cult novel), balancing laughs with the frustration of working-class life. The BFI named it one of the 100 Greatest British Films, ranking it higher than Schlesinger’s Oscar-winning Darling.

The timing fits. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Schlesinger’s birth, making it the right moment to revisit one of the era’s sharpest comedies about wanting more than your circumstances allow.