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Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)

Allen Leech: John Cairncross

The Imitation Game

Allen Leech credited as playing...

John Cairncross

Photos11

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Quotes4

  • John Cairncross: The boys, we're going to get some lunch.
  • [No response]
  • John Cairncross: Alan?
  • Alan Turing: Yes?
  • John Cairncross: I said we're going to get some lunch.
  • [No response]
  • John Cairncross: Alan?
  • Alan Turing: Yes?
  • John Cairncross: Can you hear me?
  • Alan Turing: Yes.
  • John Cairncross: I said we're off to get some lu-...
  • [disrupts himself]
  • John Cairncross: This is starting to get a little bit repetitive.
  • Alan Turing: What is?
  • John Cairncross: I had asked if you wanted to come to lunch with us.
  • Alan Turing: No you didn't, you said you were going to get some lunch.
  • John Cairncross: Have I offended you in some way?
  • Alan Turing: Why would you think that?
  • John Cairncross: Would you like to come to lunch with us?
  • Alan Turing: What time's lunch time?
  • Hugh Alexander: [Frustrated] Christ, Alan, it's a bleeding sandwich.
  • Alan Turing: What is?
  • Hugh Alexander: Lunch.
  • Alan Turing: Oh. I don't like sandwiches.
  • John Cairncross: Never mind.
  • John Cairncross: What's wrong?
  • Alan Turing: What if... what if I don't fancy being with Joan in that way?
  • John Cairncross: Because you're a homosexual? I suspected.
  • Alan Turing: 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.
  • Alan Turing: 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.
  • Alan Turing: I know.
  • John Cairncross: This has to stay a secret.
  • John Cairncross: If you tell them my secret, I'll tell them yours.
  • Alan Turing: 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?
  • Alan Turing: Hardest time to lie to someone is when they're expecting to be lied to.
  • Joan Clarke: [Realizing] Oh, God.
  • John Cairncross: What?
  • Alan Turing: If someone's waiting for a lie, you can't just, uh, give them one.
  • Joan Clarke: Damn it, Alan's right.
  • Peter Hilton: What?
  • Alan Turing: What would the Germans think if we destroy their U-Boats?
  • Peter Hilton: Nothing, they'll be dead.
  • John Cairncross: [Realizing] No... no, you can't be right.
  • Alan Turing: 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*?
  • Hugh Alexander: [Realizing] The Germans will know that we have broken Enigma.
  • Joan Clarke: They'll stop all radio communications by midday, and they would change the design of Enigma by the weekend.
  • Alan Turing: Yes. Two years work, everything that we've done here, will all be for nothing.
  • John Cairncross: There are 500 civilians in that convoy. Women. Children. We're about to let them die.
  • Alan Turing: Our job is not to save one passenger convoy; it is to win the war.
  • Hugh Alexander: Our job was to crack Enigma.
  • Alan Turing: Well, we've done that. Now for the hard part - keeping it a secret.

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