John Cairncross The boys, we're going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross [no response]
Alan?
John Cairncross I said we're going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross [no response]
Alan?
John Cairncross Can you hear me?
John Cairncross I said we're off to get some lu- [pause] This is starting to get a little bit repetitive.
John Cairncross I had asked if you wanted to come have lunch with us.
Uhm, no you didn't, you said you were going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross Have I offended you in some way?
Why would you think that?
John Cairncross Would you like to come to lunch with us?
[frustrated]
Christ Alan, it's a bleeding sandwich.
Oh, I don't like sandwiches.
John Cairncross Never mind.
John Cairncross What's wrong?
What if... what if I don't fancy being with Joan in that way?
John Cairncross Because you're a homosexual? I suspected.
Sh-should I tell her that I've had affairs with men?
John Cairncross You know, in my admittedly limited experience, women tend to be a bit touchy about accidentally marrying homosexuals. Perhaps not spreading this information about might be in your best interest.
I care for her, I truly do, but... I-I just don't know if I can pretend...
John Cairncross You can't tell anyone, Alan. It's illegal. And Denniston is looking for any excuse he can to put you away.
John Cairncross This has to stay a secret.
My God, you did it. You just defeated Nazism with a crossword puzzle.
John Cairncross There are five people in the world who know the position of every ship in the Atlantic. They are all in this room.
Oh, I don't think even He has the power that we do right now.
[getting closer to map]
No. There's going to be an attack on a British passenger convoy. Right there.
John Cairncross God, you're right. Those U-boats are only twenty, thirty minutes away.
JC Joan Clark
Civilians. Hundreds of them. We can save their lives.
John Cairncross And knock out a whole German fleet in the process.
I'll phone Denniston's office so that he can alert the Admiralty.
Do you think there's enough time to save them?
John Cairncross There should be. If we can get a message to that convoy—
[into phone]
Commander Denniston's office please, it's urgent—
No, no! [grabs and hangs up phone]
What the hell are you doing?
You-you can't call Denniston. You-you can't tell him about the attack.
What are you talking about?
John Cairncross We can have air support over that convoy in ten minutes.
Let the U-boats sink the convoy.
John Cairncross Look, it's been a big day, maybe you're suffering from—
[tries to grab phone back]
We don't have time—
[Alan smashes the phone on the ground. Hugh punches him in the face, knocking him down]
Oh, Hugh! Hugh! Stop! That's enough!
John Cairncross Stop, Hugh!
PH Peter Hilton
John, the attack is in minutes.
[rushes to Alan's side]
Are you all right?
Yes, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine. [to Hugh] Do you know why people like violence, Hugh? It's because it feels good. Sometimes we can't do what feels good. We have to do what is logical.
John Cairncross What's logical?
The hardest time to lie is when the other person is expecting to be lied to.
John Cairncross What?
If someone's waiting for a lie, you can't just, uh, give them one.
What would the Germans think if we destroy their U-boats?
PH Peter Hilton
Nothing. They'll be dead.
John Cairncross No. No, you can't be right.
So our convoy suddenly veers off course... a squadron of our air bombers miraculously descends on the coordinates of the U-boats... what will the Germans think?
The Germans will know that we have broken Enigma.
They'll stop all radio communications by midday, and they'll have changed the design of Enigma by the weekend.
Two years' work. Everything we've done here will all be for nothing.
John Cairncross There are 500 people in that convoy. Women. Children. We're about to let them die.
Our job isn't to save one passenger convoy, it is to win the war.
Our job was to crack Enigma.
Oh, we've done that. Now for the hard part. Keeping it a secret.
PH Peter Hilton
Carlisle.
PH Peter Hilton
[points to the map]
The convoy you're about to... it's, uh... The HMS Carlisle is one of the ships. We can't act on every piece of intelligence? So fine, we won't. Just this one.
Peter, what's the matter with you?
P Peter
My brother's... well, he's on the Carlisle. A gunnery ensign.
PH Peter Hilton
Who the hell do you think you are? This is my brother. He's my big brother, alright, and you have a few minutes to call off his murder.
John Cairncross He's right.
PH Peter Hilton
Alan. Joan. Hugh. John. Please, I... the Germans, they won't get suspicious just because we stopped one attack. No one will know. I'm asking you. As your friend. Please.
PH Peter Hilton
You're not God, Alan. You don't get to decide who lives and who dies.
