Did Barty Crouch Sr. know the secret of 'Alastor Moody'?

Question

In the 4th movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, after the second task, Barty Crouch Sr. met Alastor Moody - who was in fact his son Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise.

Had Mr. Crouch recognized that it was his son impersonating Moody?

Answer 1

First of all, Barty Crouch Sr. was not at the Second Task in the book.

In the book, Barty Crouch Sr. was described as being "too ill" (really it was that he was beginning to fight the Imperius Curse placed on him and was harder to control) to fulfill his role as judge for the Second Task. In the book, Percy Weasley, his personal assistant (as well as Ron's brother) stood in for him as a judge. He began substituting for Barty Crouch Sr. at the Yule Ball, but was also substituting for him at the Second Task.

“Where have you been?’ said a bossy, disapproving voice. ‘The task’s about to start!’ Harry looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges’ table – Mr Crouch had failed to turn up again.” _{^{- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 26 (The Second Task)}}

There doesn't seem to be any direct interaction between "Moody" and Barty Crouch Sr. in the books.

In the movie, for Barty Crouch Sr. to be not captive, judging the Second Task, and also not concerned about trying to warn Dumbledore, that presumably means the Imperius Curse that the Dark Lord used on him was still effective then, so he probably wouldn't have been aware enough to know his son took Moody's place.

He may have been fighting the Imperius Curse, like he was in the books, but he at least had to seem Imperiused well enough that the Dark Lord would risk sending him out. If he seemed like he was regaining his mind, the Dark Lord would have not let him leave to possibly reveal his plan.

This is the interaction between Barty Crouch Sr. and Moody in the movie:

BARTY Congratulations Potter, fine achievement. Well done boy. I'm sorry we haven't spoken, after all your story is one I've heard many times. Quite remarkable. Tragic of course, to lose one's family. Never whole again are we? Still, life goes on. And here we stand. I'm sure your parents would be very proud today Potter.

Mad-Eye approaches them.

MAD-EYE Bartimeus! Not trying to lure Potter into one of the ministry's summer internships are we? Last boy who went into the department of ministries never came out!

Barty walks away from him.

MAD-EYE And they say I'm mad.

Barty Crouch Sr. gives "Moody" an odd look after this. He had to have been considered as properly Imperiused before he could leave. It's possible, however, that he began to fight the Imperius Curse then, since the Dark Lord would be unable to do anything about it if he began fighting it after he had already been allowed out to judge the Second Task.

In the movie, it seems like seeing "Moody" in person triggers a memory in Barty Crouch Sr. somehow. Whether he realizes this means "Moody" is his son in disguise is less clear. His thoughts could be anything from "where do I know that tongue thing from?" to "aha that's my son in disguise this was their plan". There is a look but what the look means isn't mentioned.

As for whether he knew "Moody" was his son, it's possible, but not confirmed either way.

Barty Crouch Sr. did know some of what had happened. He knew his son was alive and still loyal to the Dark Lord, he knew that Bertha Jorkins was dead, and he knew that the Dark Lord was alive.

“Don’t … leave … me!’ he whispered, his eyes bulging again. ‘I … escaped … must warn … must tell … see Dumbledore … my fault … all my fault … Bertha … dead … all my fault … my son … my fault … tell Dumbledore … Harry Potter … the Dark Lord … stronger … Harry Potter …” _{^{- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 28 (The Madness of Mr Crouch)}}

When he begins to fight the Imperius Curse, "Moody" would already be at Hogwarts.

“After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods where he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill.” _{^{- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 35 (Veritaserum)}}

When Barty Crouch Jr. explains why he couldn't let his father get free and speak to Dumbledore, he says it's because he'll confess to helping him escape from Azkaban, not because he'll tell Dumbledore he's impersonating Moody. The Dark Lord considered it very important that Barty Crouch Sr. not be able to talk to Dumbledore, but it's not clear if that meant that he specifically knew his son was impersonating Moody, or if the other information he had was detrimental enough to the Dark Lord's plan if it was revealed.

“My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. ‘My master sent me word of my father’s escape. He told me to stop him at all costs.” _{^{- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 35 (Veritaserum)}}

Barty Crouch Jr. was the one who killed his father, presumably while still impersonating Moody:

“At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak, and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the Forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter, my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father.” _{^{- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 35 (Veritaserum)}}

Answer 2

He was very obviously suspicious

I'm really not sure what else needs to be said here:

After Moody licks his lips, we can clearly see Crouch's facial expression turn from polite confusion to startled horror and deep, deep discomfort. Very shortly afterwards, in one of Dumbledore's memories, we see that this was a nervous tic of Crouch Jr.'s:

And we see it again at the end of the film, when "Moody" is unmasked:

The implication is obvious: Crouch recognized his son's mannerisms, and is now suspicious of Moody. It's not clear that he was certain, but he obviously has suspicions.

I suppose I should also point out that, while in the book Crouch was under the influence of the Imperius curse (and far from Hogwarts for almost the entire thing), this seems unlikely to be the case in the film; considering the purpose for keeping him "pliable" in the text, we wouldn't expect him to have such a strong reaction in the film if he were similarly handicapped.

Answer 3

We only have conjecture to base this on, but in the books, it is not implied that Barry crouch knew anything.

In the movie, there is a scene which implies that he suspects something is up; Barty Jr has a twitch of sorts -- poking his tongue out like a snake. Barty Sr might have known of this quirk, as shown in the pensive scene, Barty Jr performs it in front of him.

As Moody, Barty Jr performs the snake tongue, again in front of his father, which causes him to squint in a comprehending manner. This heavily implies that he recognises the quirk. You could even speculate as far as saying that the reason Barty Sr dies in the movie is because he begins to suspect Moody of actually being his son in disguise.

But if we can only rely on hard facts, then no. Barty Crouch Senior does not know of his sons endeavours.

Answer 4

He absolutely knew... first of all it's mentioned in the books, as Barty Crouch Jr tells his story, he explains, that his father kept him at home, but knew, that he would try to escape to return to Voldemort. As Harry and Krum find Barty Crouch Sr near the forrest, he says that it's "his fault" (sorry for the wrong quotation, I only read the books in german) and that people are going to die and he has to tell Dumbledore. When Harry returns, Barty Crouch Sr is dead. It's not wrong to assume here, that he was killed, because his son wanted to protect his secret.

In the movie it's even more obvious. After the second task, when Barty Crouch Sr and Harry are talking "Moody" appears, and after saying a few words, he sticks out his tounge. Crouch Sr reacts kind of strange, and one scene later, he's found dead in the forrest. The strange reaction explains itself when Karkaroff reveals, that Crouch Jr is a Deatheater. Crouch Jr sticks out his tounge when brought in front of his father.

so I guess you can say, he defintely knew :)