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turning to page one
ANGLE ON: A machine. It looks like a typewriter that got left on the set of Blade Runner. Wires running all over it. Extra gears sticking out of the sides. Blinking lights that reveal German characters. Half electrical, half mechanical.
COMMANDER DENNISTON (O.S.)
Welcome to Enigma.
SLOWLY REVEAL: COMMANDER DENNISTON, 50s, is showing the ENIGMA MACHINE to the NEW RECRUITS.
They are:
HUGH ALEXANDER, 30s, loves women and chess in equal measure.
JOHN CAIRNCROSS, 30s, Scottish, not the prodigy his compatriots are and knows it.
PETER HILTON, 20s, a precocious undergrad from Oxford.
KEITH FURMAN and CHARLES RICHARDS, 40s, both stodgy linguists.
Stewart Menzies — head of MI-6, who we briefly glimpsed in the opening — stands in the corner, silent and observing. Charming and inscrutable, he didn’t become the head of British Secret Intelligence Services by accident.
COMMANDER DENNISTON (CONT’D)
The German navy encodes every
message they send using the Enigma
machine. The details of every
surprise attack, of every secret
convoy, of every U-Boat in the
bloody Atlantic go into that thing,
and out comes... Gibberish.
FINALLY REVEAL: ... Alan stands with them, staring at the machine like it’s the Sistine Chapel.
He reaches out and touches it lovingly.
ALAN TURING
It’s beautiful.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
It’s the crooked hand of death
itself.
Denniston shows Alan sheets of Enigma messages: PAGE AFTER PAGE OF RANDOM LETTERS.
COMMANDER DENNISTON (CONT’D)
Our WRENs intercept thousands of
radio messages a day. But to the
lovely young ladies of the Women’s
Royal Navy, they’re nonsense. It’s
only when you feed them back into
Enigma that they make sense.
JOHN CAIRNCROSS
But we have an Enigma machine.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
Yes. Polish intelligence smuggled
this out of Berlin.
JOHN CAIRNCROSS
So what’s the problem? Just put the
intercepted messages back in to
Enigma and —
ALAN TURING
— It’s not that simple, is it? Just
having an Enigma machine doesn’t
help you decode the messages.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
Very good, Mr. Turing. To decode a
message, you need to know the
machine’s settings. The Germans
switch settings every day, promptly
at midnight. We usually intercept
our first message around 6am. Which
gives you exactly 18 hours every
day to crack the code before it
changes, and you start again.
Alan looks at the machine carefully.
ALAN TURING
Five rotors. Six plugboard cables.
That’s...
CHARLES RICHARDS
Five —
JOHN CAIRNCROSS
— thousand million —
PETER HILTON
— No no it’s — I’ve got it —
CHARLES RICHARDS
— Million, million —
KEITH FURMAN
— In the millions, obviously —
CHARLES RICHARDS
— Obviously —
ALAN TURING
— Over one hundred and fifty
million million million possible
settings.
All eyes turn to Turing: Wow.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
... Very good.
HUGH ALEXANDER
One hundred fifty nine, if you’d
rather be exact about it.
Everyone looks at Hugh now.
HUGH ALEXANDER (CONT’D)
One five nine with eighteen zeroes
behind it. Possibilities. Every
single day.
Jesus Christ. Who is this guy?
COMMANDER DENNISTON
Gentlemen, meet Hugh Alexander.
I’ve personally selected him to run
this unit.
JOHN CAIRNCROSS
Didn’t you...?
COMMANDER DENNISTON
Mr. Alexander won Britain’s
national chess championship.
HUGH ALEXANDER
Twice.
JOHN CAIRNCROSS
(extending a hand to Hugh)
John Cairncross.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
(to Alan)
You’re not the only one who’s good
at games around here.
ALAN TURING
Are we all to work together then? I
prefer to have my own office.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
You’re a team, and you’ll work as
one.
ALAN TURING
I don’t have time to explain myself
as I go along, and I’m afraid these
men will only slow me down.
STEWART MENZIES
(piping up from the corner)
— If you can’t play together, then
I’m afraid we can’t let you play at
all.
They all stare at him.
COMMANDER DENNISTON
This is Stuart Menzies. MI-6.
The team ACKNOWLEDGES Menzies.
CHARLES RICHARDS
There are only five divisions of
military intelligence. There is no
“MI-6.”
STEWART MENZIES
Exactly. That’s the spirit.
(to Alan)
Mr. Turing. Do you know how many
British servicemen have died
because of Enigma?
ALAN TURING
I don’t.
STEWART MENZIES
Three.
They all stare at Menzies: That doesn’t sound like very many.
STEWART MENZIES (CONT’D)
... While we’ve been having this
conversation.
(checks his watch)
Oh look. There’s another. Rather
hope he didn’t have a family. This
war that Commander Denniston’s been
going on about? We’re not winning
it. Break the code and at least we
might have a chance.
(to Denniston)
Shall we leave the children alone
with their new toy?
Menzies and Commander Denniston LEAVE.
The team stands there. With Enigma.
HUGH ALEXANDER
Alright boys. Let’s play.
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