The Spy Who Thrills Us, Recurring Characters
“Of course she’s in love with Bond, but she’s too much a lady to go chasing after him. So she smiles and bides her time. In a way, you can’t blame her. Every woman would like to live dangerously with James Bond, if only for 20 minutes, or half a night…”
-Lois Maxwell
Miss Moneypenny is M’s longtime secretary and a former Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, making an appearance in virtually every era and incarnation of James Bond. She was introduced in the same pages as her boss in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and has since evolved into a staple of the series. The films and continuation novels mostly portray her as a hopeless romantic who openly expresses interest in Bond. Despite their witty and flirtatious banter, nothing ever comes of it.
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Origin and Background
Miss Moneypenny was originally inspired by Kathleen Pettigrew, secretary to the longtime head of MI6 Stewart Menzies. This was more apparent in earlier drafts of Casino Royale, where her name is “Petty” Pettaval. Additional inspirations for the character were known by Ian Fleming in a variety of circumstances, including other secret intelligence secretaries and women with whom he had romantic trysts.
Moneypenny’s romantic feelings for Bond are present in both the novels and films, although it is only in the latter that she makes them apparent. The books kept it more under the table, mostly due to the fact that her role in them was extremely limited. This is because the literary Bond had his own secretary, Loelia Ponsonby, who worked for three 00-agents including 008 and 0011. After Loelia’s departure from the series, Mary Goodnight took over in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, eventually becoming the main love interest in Fleming’s final novel, The Man with the Golden Gun.
The traits and duties of Bond’s secretaries in the novels were transferred to Miss Moneypenny for the films, thus expanding her role (although it still remains fairly small). She was also given an assistant in Octopussy named Penelope Smallbone. While significantly hotter than any incarnation of Moneypenny herself, Miss Smallbone did not last and the series never mentioned her again after the one film.
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Lois Maxwell
Lois and Sean
Lois Maxwell portrayed the original Miss Moneypenny, and her appearance in the first 14 official James Bond films turned her into an icon of the series. She defined the character and shaped audiences’ perceptions as to how Miss Moneypenny should look and act. Even Ian Fleming was impressed. While visiting the set of Dr. No, Fleming told Maxwell, “When I wrote Miss Moneypenny, I envisaged a tall, elegant woman with the most kissable lips in the world, and you, my dear, are the epitome of that dream of mine.” Ms. Maxwell’s long tenure allowed her to occasionally escape the confines of the office and assist Bond (or M) elsewhere, including a submarine off the coast of Hong Kong (You Only Live Twice), Bond’s wedding (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service), posing as a customs agent (Diamonds are Forever), Bond’s house (Live and Let Die), Egypt (The Spy Who Loved Me), Brazil (Moonraker), and Ascot Racecourse (A View to a Kill). Like most MI6 personnel, Ms. Maxwell’s role as Miss Moneypenny was normally limited to one or two short scenes per film and her total screen time in all 14 films combined clocked in at around 20 minutes, with less than 200 words spoken. Upon her final appearance in 1985, she suggested that she be allowed to continue in the role of the new M, having been promoted from her secretarial position. Reportedly, the producers scoffed at the idea and told her that audiences would never accept a female M (oops…..).
Various clips of Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny
Due to her longevity in the role, it’s easy to grow accustomed to Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. She is very charming and provides a sense of familiarity when Bond shows up for his usual mission briefing. A few of the films use very little of her and it’s obvious they’re just shoehorning her in because she’s a regular. She also stayed in the role a few years too long, as she began to visibly age alongside Roger Moore.
Caroline Bliss
Caroline and Tim
Caroline Bliss was brought in to accompany the new direction the series took with Timothy Dalton at the helm, but she only lasted as long as he did. Her appearance in The Living Daylights was in the vein of the classic Bond/Moneypenny formula, complete with flirtatious banter and so on and so forth. Her research skills were put to use in helping Bond track down the female sniper who tickled Bond’s fancy earlier in the film. The Moneypenny character was extremely underutilized in Ms. Bliss’ second (and final) appearance in Licence to Kill. Bond didn’t even go to Britain in this one, so we’re reduced to a brief glimpse of a sobbing Moneypenny making a phone call to Q in order to track down and assist the renegade Bond.
All of Caroline Bliss’ scenes
We are left with little to go off of in regards to Caroline Bliss’ brief performance, although it is my personal opinion that she is the best looking of all the official actresses to play the part, hipster glasses and all. She is charming and classy, making her my favorite of the Moneypennys. Despite her reduced role, I am much more impressed with her than her annoyingly sarcastic successor (see below).
Samantha Bond
Samantha and Pierce
The appropriately named Samantha Bond took over the role of Miss Moneypenny in 1995 after the 6-year hiatus between Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, subsequently lasting for 4 films. She was much sassier and sarcastic than her predecessors and constantly enjoyed icing Bond over whichever local girl he’s sleeping with at the moment. Unfortunately, this yielded some of the dumbest lines the character has ever given. Her role in the films was very minor and the relationship she had with Bond was altered to meet the more politically correct demands of the 90’s. She even accused Bond of sexual harassment in her introductory scene.
All of Samantha Bond’s scenes, which is surprisingly not that much longer than the combined total of Caroline Bliss’
NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS NSFW
I’m not a fan of this particular Moneypenny. Her icy demeanor and obvious joy in making Bond look ridiculous just doesn’t mesh with any previous Bond/Moneypenny relationship. It also makes it much less convincing that she secretly (but kind of openly) yearns for romantic attention from James Bond. I was overjoyed when she was discarded to make way for the series reboot.
Naomie Harris
Naomie and Daniel
In 2006, Miss Moneypenny was omitted for the first time ever in a Bond film. She was noticeably absent from both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Barbara Broccoli has gone on record saying that they didn’t put her in Casino Royale because the character was not in the book. She must not have read it in a while…seeing as how she’s totally in there. Just sayin’.
Anyway, Naomie Harris first played the current Miss Moneypenny in 2012 in Skyfall. For the first time, the character was given a fleshed out backstory and a first name (Eve) which is contradictory to her first name in the little-known book series The Moneypenny Diaries by Samantha Weinburg, where it states that her first name is Jane. She begins the film as an MI6 field agent working alongside James Bond. After accidentally shooting him, we start to realize that she really sucks at what she does, but not before she goes on one more assignment in which she gets more intimate with Bond than any of the previous Moneypenny’s ever did. The end of the film finds Eve Moneypenny settling into her new role as M’s secretary while simultaneously revealing her last name, which was the first of many nostalgic moments to conclude Skyfall.
Moneypenny shows why she normally doesn’t fire a weapon
In SPECTRE, we learn that although this incarnation of Miss Moneypenny ends up serving under M as she has in the past, she doesn’t have the same romantic feelings toward Bond (presumably because she already got to sleep with him). She has what we assume is a boyfriend, but is still willing to bend the rules to help her favorite agent.
Personally, I am pleased that they put Moneypenny back in the series, as things wouldn’t quite sit right without her. I thought Naomie Harris’ performance was slightly annoying while out in the field (which is the majority of Skyfall), but she got more appealing as the film progressed and ultimately fit quite nicely in the more established role she had in SPECTRE.
The Other Fellas…um…I Mean Gals
Barbara Bouchet
The actual Miss Moneypenny was absent from the 1967 spoof Casino Royale. In her stead was her daughter, Moneypenny (there’s no ‘Miss’ in there), played by Barbara Bouchet. She has quite a large role in the film, helping to “train” 00-agents and following Sir James Bond (now the acting M) around. The best part of this Moneypenny is that she is waaaaaay hotter than any of the official ones. She is best regarded as eye candy, which is appropriate in a film with no structure or character development.
Pamela Salem
Miss Moneypenny made a brief appearance in the unofficial Never Say Never Again, played by Pamela Salem. We only see her briefly, busily typing away at her desk. It’s clear that she was meant to strongly resemble Lois Maxwell of the official series, both in looks and nuances. Other than that, her role is far from memorable.
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