M Angry at Bond in "TMWTGG"

I just finished watching "TMWTGG". For some reason, M was angry at Bond over Scaramanga's murder of the British scientist, Dr. Gibson. Why? Bond was never assigned to protect or contact Gibson in the first place. Nor did he inadvertently cause Gibson's death? So was M using Bond as some kind of scapegoat?

Comments

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Yes, I noticed that too, and didn't get the whole idea. Probably they wanted to drag in some intensity from Fleming's novels? Sir Miles was often angry in the books.
  • This is something I've always found a bit off about TMWTGG: the interoffice MI6 "narstiness." Bernard Lee's M was always a bit short with 007, but it seems to be taken to a whole different level in TMWTGG. He also snaps at Q to "shut up" a couple of times for no apparent reason, and Q gives Bond an unusual amount of sass, snipping at Bond over things that Bond really shouldn't have foreknowledge of (e.g. "Chap who made the bullet"). I'm sure they were going for comedy, but it just reads as them being nasty to each other.
  • Posts: 7,507
    Theres no point in looking for symbolism or constructing some kind of logic in Ms actions in this film. There's no use! :) Golden Gun was never meant to make sense and contains more cheap plot short cuts than one could count... A plot point with no build up is simply what you would expect from Tom Mankiewicz :)

    This question probably belongs in the "Question thread" btw...

  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Maybe it boils down to Bernard Lee having a difficult time in 1974.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    I never knew that, health problems?
  • Posts: 5,767
    It starts with M counting off potential candidates who might have a motive to kill Bond, and continues. M almost wishes Bond had been killed instead of that scientist, because that scientist might have had a solution for the enregy crisis, which is explicitly mentioned.
    I think they just went for a slightly more tense relationship between Bond and M, just like they went for a slightly more serious and sinister Bond in YOLT.
    At the same time Bond is a bit taken the pi** out of: Q makes fun of him, Hip drives off with his nieces and forgets Bond, Bond has to fight a midget and endure Sheriff JayDubya.
    I find the mixture very well done, it doesn´t bother me that there are massive jumps of Bond´s credibility, e.g. Q making fun of Bond, then Bond showing a quantum leap of sincerity from LALD when he questions the gun maker.
    I love how Q says, "chap who made the bullet, 007!"
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,248
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