The Imitation Game · written by Graham Moore · 2014

Hugh smashes the unfinished machine and the team challenges Turing for wasting time; Turing stands by Christopher and runs to retrieve decrypted messages.

Scene 56 of 130 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Hugh Alexander
Alan Turing
Peter Hilton
John Cairncross

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 47 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 56

At Bletchley Park, Alan Turing must persuade a skeptical team to build a machine that can break Enigma before the war is lost, while concealing the self the law condemns.

Scenes 1–12
Turing is investigated as a guarded outsider in 1951, then enters Bletchley in 1939 looking for the puzzle he can solve.
Scenes 13–30
He sees the scale of Enigma, believes a machine can solve it, and grows isolated from colleagues who make little progress.
Scenes 31–50
Churchill’s order gives Turing authority and his half-built machine advances toward sustained work.
Just before
Scene 53
Outside the house, Joan asks why Turing is helping her; he says solving Enigma matters and tells her that overlooked people can do unimaginable things.
Scene 54
Joan arrives at Bletchley with other WRENs, and she and Turing exchange a small wave across the grounds.
Scene 55
At midnight the team’s daily work becomes useless; Hugh blames Turing’s rewiring demands and leaves Hut 8 to confront him.
Scene 56
This scene

56INT. BLETCHLEY PARK - HUT 11 - MOMENTS LATER

Alan stands alone with his machine, tinkering, comparing the assembly to his SCHEMATICS.

Hugh BURSTS in —

HUGH ALEXANDER

— Damn you and damn your useless

machine.

ALAN TURING

(not even looking)

My machine is how we’re going to

win.

HUGH ALEXANDER

This machine?

Hugh grabs a GLASS from the table and SMASHES IT AGAINST ALAN’S MACHINE.

ALAN TURING

(turning around, shocked)

Stop.

HUGH ALEXANDER

This is the bloody machine you’re

talking about?

He grabs a WRENCH —

— Alan moves to protect Christopher, standing between Hugh and the machine —

ALAN TURING

No no don’t —

— When the team enters behind Hugh —

— GRABBING HIM and HOLDING HIM BACK.

Alan stands between the team and his machine as Hugh STEAMS.

HUGH ALEXANDER

... You could help us. You could

make this go faster. But you won’t.

PETER HILTON

Hugh is right, Alan. There are

actual soldiers out there trying to

win an actual war — my brother, my

cousins, all my friends, they are

all making a difference, while we

wile away our days producing

nothing. Because of you.

HUGH ALEXANDER

Because of you...

Hugh PUSHES towards Alan again —

— but John HOLDS HIM BACK.

JOHN CAIRNCROSS

(to Hugh, calming)

... What’s the use?

ALAN TURING

My machine will work.

Hugh stares Alan, then at John.