The Imitation Game: The Life of Alan Turing --- As Told By Hollywood

Thanksgiving weekend, Benedict Cumberbatch's latest film, The Imitation Game, hit theaters. I was one of the first people in line to see this film and I couldn't contain my excitement. Ever since I learned about this film one year ago, I had been counting down. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the film, The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing, a mathematical genius. During the Second World War, Turing was recruited to work at Bletchley Park and he became a celebrity there. His brilliance paved the way for many innovations in codebreaking and his astounding vision for future technology laid the groundwork for modern computers (formerly referred to as Turing machines). Unfortunately, the story of his astounding triumphs was kept a secret for nearly thirty years, because of the wartime Official Secrets Act. Instead, for a while, Turing was remembered by his non-Bletchley contemporaries for his suicide and gross indecency charge. Over the past several decades, this has changed and Turing is gaining well-deserved recognition for his wartime contributions. (He was even posthumously pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II last year). The Imitation Game was created as an homage to the genius. 

I was really apprehensive about writing this post because I have such mixed feelings about the film. I knew that if I chose to write something, out of my love and respect for Benedict Cumberbatch, I needed to wait a while so people could see the film first. For me, the film was exactly what I expected: Hollywood’s version of events. Yes, the film is based on a true story, but sadly, the story told is not wholly factual. Now that it has been nearly a month, I feel ready to share my thoughts. 

Bletchley Park is my baby. Plain and simple. I live, eat, sleep, and breathe the history of Bletchley Park and that is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the more I learn, the more intrigued I become. On the other hand, it leaves me hypercritical of Bletchley Park portrayals, and this film was no acceptation. I really wanted to love this film, truly, but I did not. The acting was superb (in my opinion) and I am excited to see how Benedict Cumberbatch fares during the upcoming awards season, but I feel like Hollywood ruined the story. I get it, Hollywood will change the facts --- I know this, but that doesn't mean that I will accept it, especially when the changes are drastic, stupid, unfounded, and pointless. 

I don't want to turn this into a rant, and frankly, if I start complaining about the film, this post would become a novel. No. I won't criticize every aspect of the film, but as a Bletchley Park historian, I feel that it is my responsibility to correct the mistakes made by The Imitation Game and tell the TRUE story. Not Hollywood's version of the facts, but the actual historic record. There were many weird changes made, which I find infuriating, and I want to set the record straight. My one disclaimer is: I am not an expert on Alan Turing, so I won't comment on his personal life. I will only discuss facts related to Bletchley Park. 

Myth #1: Hut 8 was the only Hut breaking codes.

This could just be me, but I felt that the film made it seem like there were only about five codebreakers in all of Bletchley Park working to break the Enigma. All this emphasis on Hut 8 had me thinking, “guys, you know that were are dozens and dozens of other codebreakers and there is whole other hut!” I just wanted to take a moment to clarify that there were more than five codebreakers at work and I want to quickly distinguish between Hut 8 (mentioned in the film) and Hut 6 (not mentioned in film).

The Imitation Game spends a lot of time mentioning Hut 8, but what does that really mean? There were two types of Enigma machines being used by the German Armed forces during WWII. There was the standard three-rotor Enigma and the special naval four-rotor Enigma. (Obviously, the naval Enigma was the bigger challenge).

Hut 8, where Turing worked, was focused on the Naval Enigma and Hut 6 focused on the Army & Air Enigma. I felt like the Imitation Game made it seem like all Enigma intercepts were sent to Hut 8. That’s not necessarily true. If the intercept was naval, then yes, Hut 8 would receive it, but if it was an army/air Enigma, then the message was delivered to Hut 6. Both huts were outfitted with dozens of codebreakers.

Perhaps this isn’t the most important fact to discuss, but it’s a distinction and explanation that I felt was lacking.

Myth #2: The Bletchley Park you see in the film is the real Bletchley Park.

The REAL Bletchley Park

I don’t have much to say except for the fact that the beautiful manor house you see in the film is NOT the real Bletchley Park. I don’t know where that is, but it’s not Bletchley.

Myth #3: In the film, Hugh Alexander is head of Hut 8. The film implies that once Alan Turing wrote to Winston Churchill complaining about Alexander, Churchill made Turing head of Hut 8.

This really had me scratching my head. In the film, when the codebreakers gather in a meeting room and Commander Denniston (played by Charles Dance) introduces the Enigma machine, the new recruits are introduced to Hugh Alexander (played by Matthew Goode). Denniston explains that he recruited Alexander to Bletchley Park and that Alexander was in charge of Hut 8. This is utterly FALSE!

Hugh Alexander was recruited to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker, but he was originally assigned to Hut 6. He proved himself a talented codebreaker and was eventually transferred to Hut 8. By the time Alexander arrived at Hut 8, Alan Turing was already the well-established head. In fact, Turing arrived at Bletchley before Alexander. Eventually, Alexander would become Turing’s second in command, taking over Hut 8 when Turing took some time off.

Also, it is true that Turing wrote to Winston Churchill, but not for the reason outlined in the film. The film would have you believe that Turing complained about Alexander, but this is ridiculous. Turing, and a few other codebreakers, wrote to Winston Churchill complaining about the lack of manpower. Churchill was annoyed by the breach of protocol, but he listened to the codebreakers laments and ensured increased recruitment to Bletchley.

Myth #4: Alan Turing developed the Bombe machines (what he calls "Christopher" in the film) by himself.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, working on the Bombe machine (Christopher)

No! No! No! I saw this in the trailer and I was really annoyed with this mistake, even before seeing the actual film. The machine that Turing builds, which he calls “Christopher”, is actually called a Bombe machine. Like I said, I’m not too familiar with Alan Turing’s personal history, but I wasn’t aware that he called this machine Christopher. As far as I know, that’s not true either, but I could be wrong.

I have three things to say about the Bombe machines:

1)    Alan Turing did not invent/build this alone. He worked with another codebreaker, Gordon Welchman. (Welchman was head of Hut 6). If you go to Bletchley Park, they have rebuilt a bombe machine and it is called the “Turing-Welchman Bombe Machine.”  When I realized that the film omitted Welchman from the story, I told all of my friends and family, “If Turing gets full credit, I will NOT be happy.” Well, I can tell you all, I was really annoyed when my fear became reality.

2)    In the film, Turing sort of mentions this in passing to Denniston, when asking for money to build his machine, but the British Bombe machines are based upon the Polish Bombas. The British machine was significantly more intricate and useful, but I wanted to just make sure it was recognized that the machine wasn’t original to Turing.

3)    The film seems to imply that there was only ONE Bombe machine in operation at Bletchley Park. Not true. There were dozens. In fact, Hut 11 was filled with them.

Myth #5: John Cairncross was a Soviet agent and Alan Turing was suspected of being a Soviet agent.

I was really disappointed that this story line was included. I’m not surprised, I mean it makes for a great plot twist, but there is no evidence to support this. There has been speculation that John Cairncross may have been the fifth member of the Cambridge spy ring, but no definitive proof.

I actually spoke to David Kahn, a leading expert on the history of Bletchley Park and Enigma (and also my unofficial mentor) and even he shook his head. He confirmed my research by telling me that in the course of his extensive research on the history of Bletchley Park (including combing through the BP archives), he never came across anything that would support the claim that Cairncross was definitely a Soviet spy. In fact, Kahn told me he never saw any mention of Soviets spies at Bletchley.

Myth #6: Alan Turing figured out how to break Enigma after talking to a female Bletchley employee at the local pub.

This error was probably the biggest offender, at least in my opinion. In the film, when Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode), Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) are all having a drink at a pub, they getting talking to one of Joan’s friends, who reveals that she listens to German radio traffic. I nearly wanted to scream when this happened. THIS WOULD HAVE NEVER EVER EVER HAPPENED IN REAL LIFE. No, no, no, no, no!

To tweak Fight Club: the first rule of Bletchley Park is utter secrecy. You lie to your friends and family, and you NEVER EVER talk to anyone about your work. Although Bletchley employed nearly 900 people by the end of the war, no one knew what anyone else was up to. You stayed in your hut, you kept you head down, and once you left your desk, you kept quite. Plain and simple. There was no socializing and talking about your day down at the pub. Preposterous. That’s asking for death by firing squad. When you signed the Official Secrets Act, you were told that any inappropriate discussion would lead to a charge of treason and death.

With this in mind, when Joan’s friend causally mentions to everyone that she is in love with a German (joking of course) and that she listens to his radio messages, I had a mini meltdown. Furthermore, when she continues to talk about the content of the radio messages and the formulaic nature of the messages --- which supposedly inspires Turing --- that was so historically inaccurate, it was almost offensive. Did anyone on the production team even do their research?! Did no one read a book?! Just thinking about it makes me angry.

The moment of inspiration that Benedict Cumberbatch has at the pub, which leads him to run back to “Christopher” and succeed in breaking Enigma --- all total rubbish. Sorry, guys.

I don't want to put people off of the film, but I want people to know that The Imitation Game isn't telling the whole story, despite claiming that the film is based on a true story. Yes, it is a fascinating film and it tells an incredible story --- I have no quarrel with this. Like I said, I thought the acting was great and I think the story it meant to tell is brilliant. If I didn't find Bletchley Park interesting, I would have never begun researching it. That said, it's a shame that Hollywood distorted the facts so much and I don't think it's right for people to be misinformed, especially when Alan Turing's memory is at stake.

I apologize for the long post, but I hope that those who read this post are enlightened and walk away feeling like they learned a bit more about the true story of Alan Turing and Bletchley Park.