During World War II, Walton did not have to do military service so that he had time to compose music for propaganda films, such as "The First of the Few" (1942), and Laurence Olivier's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry V" (1944). After composing a second string quartet (1946) Walton spent most of the next seven years writing his opera, "Troilus and Cressida" (1947-1954). The opera was not very popular. This was because his music was rather Romantic, very different from a lot of modern music that was in fashion in the 1950s, especially the music of Pierre Boulez and his followers.