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Miss Moneypenny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| James Bond character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Miss Moneypenny | |
| Gender | Female |
| Role | Ally |
| Affiliation | MI6 |
| Status | Hiatus |
| Portrayed by | various |
Jane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service. Although she has a small part in the films, it is always highlighted by the underscored sexual tension between her and Bond (something that is virtually nonexistent in Ian Fleming's novels, though somewhat more apparent in the novels of John Gardner and Raymond Benson). According to the movie You Only Live Twice, she holds the rank of Second Officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service.
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In Ian Fleming's first draft of Casino Royale, Moneypenny's name was originally "Miss 'Petty' Pettaval". The name, "Moneypenny" derives from an unfinished novel by Peter Fleming called The Sett.
Miss Moneypenny is believed to be based on two women who worked with Ian Fleming in Naval Intelligence during World War II. One of these was his secretary Paddy Bennett (who later married Julian Ridsdale and was made a Dame for her services to the House of Commons Parliamentary Wives Club). Paddy Bennett played a key role in an operation, devised by Ian Fleming, to deceive German Intelligence.[citation needed]
Another possible inspiration for the character of Miss Moneypenny is Vera Atkins. As the principal assistant to Col. Maurice Buckmaster, director of the Special Operations Executive, she recruited, trained and managed over 400 British secret agents who parachuted into France. Furthermore, Buckmaster is said to have been the model for the character M. Vera Atkins died in June of 2000, at the age of 92, in Hastings, Sussex.
Another possible and more probable inspiration for the character of Miss Moneypenny is Miss Margaret Preistley who played a vital role in the administration and running of 30 Commando Assault Unit Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians' but she shunned any possibility of recognition for the important part she played, both as Fleming's inspiration and to the contribution 30AU made to the war, during her lifetime. See http://www.30AU.co.uk
In both the Bond novels and films based upon them, Moneypenny is smitten with Bond. For example, in the novel Thunderball, Fleming wrote that she "often dreamed hopelessly about Bond." However, she never vocalizes these feelings.
Miss Moneypenny's role in Fleming's novels is even smaller than that of her role in the films. In the novels, Bond also has his own secretary, Loelia Ponsonby and later Mary Goodnight, both of which often had their lines and relationships transferred to Miss Moneypenny for the films. As a rule, Moneypenny generally never directly participates in Bond's missions, although there have been a few exceptions in both film and literature (most notably in the novel Diamonds Are Forever, in which she disguises herself as a customs agent to help send Bond on his mission). In the film Octopussy, Moneypenny has an assistant named Penelope Smallbone, who appears to be equally smitten with Bond, despite a "thorough briefing" on the subject by Moneypenny. Apparently intended as either a foil or a replacement for Moneypenny, Smallbone appeared only the once.
Traditionally in the Bond films, there would be a scene, usually Bond's arrival at M's office, where Bond and Moneypenny would exchange witty and flirtateous conversation with quips to Bond from her such as, "Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying." In the earlier films, this exchange is more sexually explicit, with Bond often kissing or caressing Moneypenny sensually. In several films there have been moments in which Moneypenny becomes annoyed with Bond because of his misinterpretation or outwitting of her. For example, in You Only Live Twice, upon informing Bond that an important phrase in his upcoming mission is "I love you", she asks him to repeat it to her to ensure his remembering of the phrase; he tells her he will remember it. At the end of the film, when M asks Moneypenny to bring Bond to him (and removing him from the attentions of Bond Girl Kissy Suzuki), she replies, "it'll be a pleasure, sir." This is only one example of the character's deviousness; in From Russia With Love, after being dismissed from M's office while they listen to a live recording of Bond while on his mission, she eavesdrops from her office using her intercom, although she is interrupted on the device by M who says there is no doubt she is listening. In Goldeneye, she apparently goes to the opera with an anonymous gentleman, only to have the date interrupted by official business; Bond remarks that she looks "smashing" in her opera gown.
Although Moneypenny is supposed to be English, in the James Bond films in which Lois Maxwell, who was Canadian, portrayed the character, she spoke with a mild Canadian accent.
Since the character's first appearance in Casino Royale, neither Fleming nor any succeeding Bond novelist or screenwriter had ever seen fit to give Moneypenny a first name. In a few of the books and at least one film, Bond refers to her by the nickname "Penny" (a shortened version of her last name). The Moneypenny Diaries officially gives her a first name: Jane. It remains to be seen if any future Bond film follows suit.
- Further information: The Moneypenny Diaries
On October 10, 2005, John Murray published the first of three Ian Fleming Publications' sanctioned novels, written by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook, entitled The Moneypenny Diaries, a trilogy from the point of view of Miss Moneypenny.
Moneypenny has been played by five different actresses in the Bond films - three in the EON film series, plus one each in the non-EON films. Though she does not appear in the latest Bond film, Casino Royale, (the only James Bond film in which she doesn't appear) a possible reference arises in a scene between Bond and Vesper Lynd. In the scene, Vesper appears for the first time introducing herself with "I'm the money" (referring to her role as a Treasury accountant) to which Bond replies while looking her over, "Every penny of it".
- Dr. No (1962)
- From Russia with Love (1963)
- Goldfinger (1964)
- Thunderball (1965)
- You Only Live Twice (1967)
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Octopussy (1983)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
Maxwell also portrays Moneypenny in the 1967 TV special Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond, which was produced by EON Productions.
The likeness of Lois Maxwell's Miss Moneypenny was used in EA's James Bond Video Game From Russia with Love in 2005.
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- Licence to Kill (1989)
- GoldenEye (1995)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- The World Is Not Enough (1999)
- Die Another Day (2002)
- Casino Royale (1967) (non-Eon Bond film - Bouchet actually plays Moneypenny's daughter)
- Never Say Never Again (1983) (non-Eon Bond film)