After a long absence from film work, he was hired to compose the music for
Battle of Britain (1969). He composed a full score, but it was rejected by the producers, who then hired
Ron Goodwin to compose an entirely new one. This cavalier act toward a distinguished artist so angered his friend
Laurence Olivier, who played the largest and most important role in the film, that Olivier immediately demanded that his own name be removed from the credits of the film and from all advertising, refusing also to do any promotional work for the film. This so alarmed the producers that they eventually agreed to a compromise, whereby some twelve minutes of Walton's score were used on the soundtrack, with full credit.