4 ms·

In fairness, the polish contributions were completely sidelined in The Imitation Game.

bowersbros 11y ago
That film was more a memorial towards Alan Turing though. It doesn't make a good memorial to say, 'These guys did it first'.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Polish contributions were ignored in the film U-571, which showed Americans recovering enigma machines before they entered the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-571_(film)#Controversies_regarding_content https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-571_(film)#Controversies_reg...
codeulike 11y ago
there is this line, when Turing is talking about his machine: "It’s inspired by an old Polish code machine, only infinitely more advanced. "
colmvp 11y ago
Wouldn't be the first time Hollywood glossed over contributions for a better story. Regarding Argo: “In the movie, Canada and Ottawa didn’t exist,” said Kenneth D. Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador to Iran at the time and helped six Americans who escaped from the American Embassy as it was overrun by militants to flee the country. “It’s a great film, it’s great. But at the same time it was a Canadian story that’s been, all of sudden, totally taken over by the Americans. Totally.”
- strictnein 11y ago
  That's a little much to say Canada doesn't exist at all. It was pretty well established in the movie that they were at the Canadian embassy.
pilsetnieks 11y ago
On the other hand, not too long ago Turing's contributions were neglected as well, and before that, Bletchley as a whole was neglected as it remained classified long after the war ended.
- deepnet 11y ago
  I read that the Soviet Russians captured and used the Enigma machine, unaware it had been cracked - and remained unaware for 40 years, so the UK and USA could read Soviet encryption. It was therefore of the highest strategic importance to keep the work at Bletchly secret - the unfortunate side effect was Turing's work was classified as well as other pioneers like Tommy Flower's who build the first electronic computer from valves.
  - pilsetnieks 11y ago
    They must have been aware that Enigma was broken, they had an agent in Bletchley Park [1], that part The Imitation Game did get right. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cairncross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cairncross
    - deepnet 11y ago
      Cairncross smuggled out raw Tunny decrypts performed by Collosus. However Cairncross worked in translation not code breaking and did not have access to Enigma decrypts He is unlikely to have comprehended nor been aware of the role of the method or the role or existence of the machine - due to the excellent op-sec secrecy separating huts. Anyone know of a good cold war history of encryption ?
moomin 11y ago
That movie did a vast disservice to everyone featured, including Denniston and Turing.
ArkyBeagle 11y ago
It's Hollywood, Jake.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
This was more than a little frustrating. They could have a throw-away line like "The Polish first cracked the early Enigmas..." but I imagine the screenwriters though that would have detracted from Turing's greatness. There's just something awful about movie storytelling which focuses so much on the "hero" or the "incredible person" that we can't acknowledge the contribution of others in a meaningful way. I guess we love the idea of the superman inventor/genius/whatever and find it difficult to credit teams instead of people. I wish this kind of thinking would just go away.
- bri3d 11y ago
  They did have a throw away line: http://www.subzin.com/quotes/M163327400a/The+Imitation+Game/It's+is+inspired+by+an+old+Polish+code+machine http://www.subzin.com/quotes/M163327400a/The+Imitation+Game/.... I think it's hard to fit team storytelling into the constrains of cinema. It would be interesting to see something like the Imitation Game re-imagined as a TV miniseries developing multiple character arcs.

That film was more a memorial towards Alan Turing though. It doesn't make a good memorial to say, 'These guys did it first'.

DanBC 11y ago
Polish contributions were ignored in the film U-571, which showed Americans recovering enigma machines before they entered the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-571_(film)#Controversies_regarding_content https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-571_(film)#Controversies_reg...

codeulike 11y ago

there is this line, when Turing is talking about his machine: "It’s inspired by an old Polish code machine, only infinitely more advanced. "

colmvp 11y ago

Wouldn't be the first time Hollywood glossed over contributions for a better story. Regarding Argo: “In the movie, Canada and Ottawa didn’t exist,” said Kenneth D. Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador to Iran at the time and helped six Americans who escaped from the American Embassy as it was overrun by militants to flee the country. “It’s a great film, it’s great. But at the same time it was a Canadian story that’s been, all of sudden, totally taken over by the Americans. Totally.”

strictnein 11y ago
That's a little much to say Canada doesn't exist at all. It was pretty well established in the movie that they were at the Canadian embassy.

pilsetnieks 11y ago

On the other hand, not too long ago Turing's contributions were neglected as well, and before that, Bletchley as a whole was neglected as it remained classified long after the war ended.

deepnet 11y ago
I read that the Soviet Russians captured and used the Enigma machine, unaware it had been cracked - and remained unaware for 40 years, so the UK and USA could read Soviet encryption. It was therefore of the highest strategic importance to keep the work at Bletchly secret - the unfortunate side effect was Turing's work was classified as well as other pioneers like Tommy Flower's who build the first electronic computer from valves.
- pilsetnieks 11y ago
  They must have been aware that Enigma was broken, they had an agent in Bletchley Park [1], that part The Imitation Game did get right. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cairncross https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cairncross
  - deepnet 11y ago
    Cairncross smuggled out raw Tunny decrypts performed by Collosus. However Cairncross worked in translation not code breaking and did not have access to Enigma decrypts He is unlikely to have comprehended nor been aware of the role of the method or the role or existence of the machine - due to the excellent op-sec secrecy separating huts. Anyone know of a good cold war history of encryption ?

moomin 11y ago

That movie did a vast disservice to everyone featured, including Denniston and Turing.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago

It's Hollywood, Jake.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

This was more than a little frustrating. They could have a throw-away line like "The Polish first cracked the early Enigmas..." but I imagine the screenwriters though that would have detracted from Turing's greatness. There's just something awful about movie storytelling which focuses so much on the "hero" or the "incredible person" that we can't acknowledge the contribution of others in a meaningful way. I guess we love the idea of the superman inventor/genius/whatever and find it difficult to credit teams instead of people. I wish this kind of thinking would just go away.

bri3d 11y ago
They did have a throw away line: http://www.subzin.com/quotes/M163327400a/The+Imitation+Game/It's+is+inspired+by+an+old+Polish+code+machine http://www.subzin.com/quotes/M163327400a/The+Imitation+Game/.... I think it's hard to fit team storytelling into the constrains of cinema. It would be interesting to see something like the Imitation Game re-imagined as a TV miniseries developing multiple character arcs.