DB7

'Battle of Britain' to get back its lost music

By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent
22 September 2003


The epic war filmBattle of Britain is to be finally reunited with its original score by Sir William Walton more than 30 years after the music was wiped from the movie just before its release in 1969.

The Oscar-nominated composer was commissioned to write the music for the movie but was then shocked to learn that his work had been replaced with a more gung-ho alternative by Ron Goodwin on the studio's last-minute orders.

Only a fragment of Walton's music, the Battle in the Air sequence, remained in the film - and that was reinstated only when its star, Sir Laurence Olivier, threatened to remove his name from the credits unless at least part was used.

Now a campaign by the film's assistant editor, Timothy Gee, 67, and the film fan and BBC producer Mark Burman has cleared the way for Battle of Britain to be seen as originally intended. Next month, Guy Hamilton, the film's director, will join Mr Gee at the studios where the music was originally recorded for a new edit. The intention is for the DVD to be released by MGM later this year, although Mr Gee hopes for a new cinematic release eventually.

Mr Burman, who tells the story on Radio 3's Night Waves tonight, said: "This is long overdue because there was no good reason to do it in the first place."

Walton, who had been nominated for Oscars for his scores for Hamlet and Henry V, produced 25 minutes of music for Battle of Britain. But it appears that United Artists belatedly decided on a full-length soundtrack and turned to Ron Goodwin, whose credits included 633 Squadron and Where Eagles Dare. Walton was devastated. He did not even get his score back for several years, until the intervention of Edward Heath, a music-lover and at the time the Prime Minister.

The recordings, too, conducted by Sir Malcolm Arnold, were believed lost. In the 1990s they were found to have been rescued from a skip by the original recording engineer, Eric Tomlinson, and kept in his garage.

Russ

Excellent news! I look forward to seeing the rereleased DVD, it has to be said that the Battle in the Air sequence of the current film is easily its highlight, and is highly recommended to anyone that hasn't seen it.

But doesn't it reflect the sad treatment meted out to British films that this recording was found in a skip.
The BFI was probably busy that week rescuing a French/Japanese/youeffingnameit film.

Marky B

Although,I enjoyed Ron Goodwin's score for the Battle of Britain,Walton's Battle In The Air stood out and should really be in compilations of classical music.
The sequence itself was the best bit about the film (along with the Richardson/Jurgen exchange and Olivier's final words to the Air Minister over the telephone - I have put an entry in Favourite British films about the Battle of Britain). The sequence,done Riffifi style apart from a few words from a female controller,is probably also the best dogfight shown on the screen (I believe it was the inspiration for the Jedi on the Death Star in Star Wars). It showed the loneliness and vulnerability of the young pilots.
I am looking forward tothe DVD coming out?
TA Ta
Marky B thumbs_u

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

loveclose

Have to agree that Walton's 'Battle in the Air' sequence is musically superb.

But - the rest of the film score doen't have anything like the necessary characterisation that incidental music requires. Having listened to the Walton score over the film as it was intended, I am sorry to say that I can see why it was replaced. Ron Goodwin's score has much more depth and contrast.

I think the way the changing of the music was handled was deplorable - it should have been done earlier somehow I guess. But in my view, the change of score was necessary. Walton is a superb classical composer - but his film score for the b of b was inadequate. I'm glad they kept the Battle in the Air music - it is without doubt a fine piece of music. But it's the only piece of music of Walton's that does anything for the film.

Harbottle

Nice to have the option on the DVD.

penfold

Yes, of course it's the bfi's job to lurk around the back doors of recording studios on the off chance someone decides to dispose of material without telling them...
Yes, british film is generally undervalued, but to blame the bfi for everything that goes on is frankly ridiculous...they do what they can within a tiny budget; if you want things to improve, have a go at the people who work out that budget, The Film Council and the Dept. of Culture and Heritage.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Jim

Excellent news! Look forward to the release.

Seen over the weekend a programe reconstruction of the BoB; they used many scenes from the film AND it looked like they used some out-takes as well - really enjoyed it.

I spotted in the newspaper that Reginald Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire is to have a statue erected to his memory - how bloody typical of this country - to remember a man 60 years or more after his death!!!

Good morning boys.

MrDrakesDuck

At least he was remembered in film. The First of the Few (1942)

"I thought I had to shoot Germans, not chew 'em"

Marky B

I agree,Jim - it is also bloody typical of this country to forget 15 September is Battle of Britain day and without those chasing up a memorial statue in honour of the Few,I doubt such a thing would have come off.
People - and governments - forget if it wasn't for the Few (young lads in their late teens,early twenties) a Nazi invasion of Britain would have commenced and more than likely we might still be under Nazi rule.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

Steve Crook

The new Battle of Britain memorial was unveiled on the Thames Embankment by Prince Charles today. It doesn't just remember "the few", i.e. the pilots but the ground crew, anti-aircraft crews, observer corps and even the people that built the planes and the civilains that had to catch the bombs.

Steve

Johnny Rico

The Battle of Britain is so overlaid with layers of myth , that it is sometimes hard to realise the reality . It has passed into legend and has become part of the British Nation .

Peel away some of the layers and it becomes apparent how much rested on the Battle of Britain. Look at where the Major Countries were aligned - The US was keen to stay out of a "European" War , USSR had signed a Peace Treaty ( who knows if the Invasion of the USSR would have been affected if Britain had fallen ) , China had been invaded by Japan. There were no other significant Armed Powers at this time who were not aligned with Germany and Japan.

The Free World owes a lot more to the Combatants of the Battle of Britain than is ever acknowleged - too much national pride maybe.

I have a weary feeling that people will assume in future that Wooden Ben Affleck saved the free world

Couldn't You just try acting , Old Boy...It's so much easier

Marky B

Hear,hear Johnny. While we are flying our flags for the England Soccer Team,we should keep them flying in memory of those underpaid and moreheroic who gave more than ninety minutes of their time. September 15 should be made officially The Battle of Britain Day. Also,on a personal level,as my dad was a merchant mariner during World War II,more thought should be given to the men of the British Merchant Navy.
Mark

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

Johnny Rico

I agree Marky, and would heartily support any campaign to make Sept 15th Battle of Britain Day.

With regards to the role of the Merchant Navy in WW2 , I agree that it has not been given its rightful prominence. Anyone who has read the history of WW2 knows what the Merchant Navy did for this Country. I'm afraid that Ignorance of History is widespread throughout

As regards my own connection with WW2 , my father was in the RAF and my mother was a Nurse. The WW2 Generation did an Important Job and then just got back to living their lives.

Couldn't You just try acting , Old Boy...It's so much easier

djdave

I completely agree that the Merchant Navy's contribution to the war effort is undervalued: my grandfather died as a result of a German submarine attack and my father never got to know him.

Having said that, it's difficult to decide who made the biggest contribution and different people will have different opinions. What I think we could all agree on, though, is that all of the surviving men and women involved in WWII deserve to be appaluded for their efforts.

djdave

People seem to be divided as to which score for The Battle of Britain i.e. Goodwin's or Walton's, was the best.

Leaving this aside for a moment, it has to be said that Goodwin has been unfairly criticised by some people for taking this job on. After all, he was a jobbing composer - the Studio system having bit the dust - who had to make a living.

I'm not saying it was the right decision, because I haven't heard either score in full. But Goodwin replacing Walton is not unusual. Indeed, you might be surprised at the number of times a score is rejected and another composer brought in. Goodwin himself went on to replace Henry Mancini on a film called Frenzy.