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The faces of Moneypenny
Something struck me recently looking at Naomi Harris: in spite of being of a different race to Lois Maxwell, there is a sort of family resemblance between them. Something about the shape of their face and their mannerism in the role. Especially at the end of SF, which of course can easily be explained by the fact that they were revealing Eve as the character. it might be a one off, but I hope not, I hope Harris emulates, without imitating, Maxwell.
But this reminded me that Moneypenny was very inconsistently pictured from actress to actress. Of course, like for Q we had one actress playing her for a very long period of time, but what followed was very different from Maxwell's portraiture. Caroline Bliss was a cliché 80s secretary, with glasses and all, while Samantha Bond ended up playing her like a groupie in DAD, and making bad innuendos. They were both very different from the original. I find it interesting than in SF, they made a Q very different from Llewellyn's take, to avoid making a poor imitation, while for Moneypenny they seem, at least near the end, to make one closer to the original. Of course, I am not talking about the background of Eve Moneypenny, which I still find questionable. But even then, the affectionate yet platonic interaction she has with Bond is akin to Maxwell's Moneypenny's.
Or is it only me?
But this reminded me that Moneypenny was very inconsistently pictured from actress to actress. Of course, like for Q we had one actress playing her for a very long period of time, but what followed was very different from Maxwell's portraiture. Caroline Bliss was a cliché 80s secretary, with glasses and all, while Samantha Bond ended up playing her like a groupie in DAD, and making bad innuendos. They were both very different from the original. I find it interesting than in SF, they made a Q very different from Llewellyn's take, to avoid making a poor imitation, while for Moneypenny they seem, at least near the end, to make one closer to the original. Of course, I am not talking about the background of Eve Moneypenny, which I still find questionable. But even then, the affectionate yet platonic interaction she has with Bond is akin to Maxwell's Moneypenny's.
Or is it only me?
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Comments
I thought that too actually. Although I don't think they consummated anything in SF.
I think the SF shaving/seduction scene in the hotel was left deliberately ambiguous, personally I like to think they consummated like rampant, Swedish, teenage, bunny rabbits on heat before hitting the casino, but I think leaving it as a did they/didn't they scenario will probably make their future scenes all the more intriguing.
For Skyfall, in my mind, I happily have Bond and Moneypenny fully consummating their relationship. I like, though, that is is ambiguous (to each his/her own imagination for them) and I think it should stay ambiguous in the future. So Mendes made the right decision on how that ended up being portrayed, in my opinion. It's good to have the intrigue and wondering how much, when, if ever, etc.
Does it feel weird that I don't find it weird, not coming from Bond /:)
He banged Kissy and never bothered to ask for her name. ;)
It doesn't surprise me in the least.
She knew his name, though. ;)
Oh, it's all good. I liked their chemistry, too.
Samantha Bond's Moneypenny was initially rather standoffish and dismissive in the earlier Brosnan films, which made her DAD scene doubly incongruous.
Caroline Bliss got something of a raw deal--she was a very likable actress and projected good humor and warmth, but she only appeared in two films, and in both her role was not written as well as it could have.
Caroline Bliss' name sounded perfect for a Bond girl. As Moneypenny I think she had the problem of being cast right after Lois Maxwell and with a character nobody knew what to do with.
I don't think she gets more screentime than Lois Maxwell in ALL her 14 Bond films, but certainly more screentime than Maxwell in one movie.