During our previous appreciative appraisals of the actresses who’ve had the honor of playing Miss Moneypenny (was her first name ever revealed anywhere?), we always forgot to remember including Caroline Bliss.
Now it’s been quite awhile since we’ve watched this film (and the previous one posted, which she also briefly appears in) , so forgive us if our memory is less than mobile but we seem to recall
her impression remained a positive one.
Alas, further expansive exposure was denied her (mirroring Mr. Dalton’s fate, also).
As to that, she has a welcome, open and contemporary sheen that still stands her in affirmative stead …
Moneypenny's first name remained a secret. I doubt that Bond's calling her "Penny" once meant that she was christened "Penelope Moneypenny".
Someone in recent years in England has taken to writing novels set in the literary Bond universe that are meant to be the secret diaries of Miss Moneypenny and she gave her the name "Jane" which somehow doesn't seem quite right IMO.
If Moneypenny finally gets reintroduced into the current Bond movie universe, then IMO if they want to give her a first name, they should do so by paying tribute to the one lady who will always be Miss Moneypenny no matter who plays the part and christen her Lois.
Moneypenny's first name remained a secret. I doubt that Bond's calling her "Penny" once meant that she was christened "Penelope Moneypenny".
Someone in recent years in England has taken to writing novels set in the literary Bond universe that are meant to be the secret diaries of Miss Moneypenny and she gave her the name "Jane" which somehow doesn't seem quite right IMO.
If Moneypenny finally gets reintroduced into the current Bond movie universe, then IMO if they want to give her a first name, they should do so by paying tribute to the one lady who will always be Miss Moneypenny no matter who plays the part and christen her Lois.
I think Penelope would be the Lois Maxwell character's name, because "Penelope Moneypenny" is cute and funny, as all Bond girl names had to be back then. Jane does NOT work.
Jane is for Tarzan Knot Her and As Solomon Might Slice It Department:
We’re gonna haveta levitate up regarding both you gents’ favor, HooRaq-Zap. On the one hand (Natalie Wood notwithstanding )
is a right appropriate English moniker for our favorite seccatary
tho, on the indisputable other - ala the original Trinity of
and
there IS no replacing the definitive
And while your homage is impeccable in its respectful honoring, Eric Young Sun, we dearly doubt the current EON honchos will wanna allude to the past in any way that might interefere with their redefined present.
The best we can probably hope for is their taking the characters in a totally new direction with a charismatic enuff actor to reinforce and refortify the character (ala Mme. Dench and, in DAD, the way John Cleese had managed to extricate from Q’s indominatable shadow and start to carve his own niftily enjoyable take on it. Oui? …
Jane is for Tarzan Knot Her and As Solomon Might Slice It Department:
Though I may say as a digression that Lois would have been a better heir to Maureen O'Sullivan's Jane than any of the others we saw in those mostly lackluster Tarzan films of the 50s.
And while your homage is impeccable in its respectful honoring, Eric Young Sun, we dearly doubt the current EON honchos will wanna allude to the past in any way that might interefere with their redefined present.
All too true perhaps, but in that vein, that's the reason why I have always considered it a bad idea that Judi Dench was retained as "M" bceause she is a reminder of someone who was part of a different universe of Bond films entirely and prevents me at least from being prepared to totally accept that things have been started afresh. Far better to have gone back to a new M in the Bernard Lee tradition IMO because the idea of a female "M" only works when the character is replacing the traditional concept after many years.
On Moneypenny's name maybe just a glimpse of Bond reading her service file and showing the name "Penelope Lois Moneypenny" will do the job?
At any rate, let's hope the next one proves a worthy successor to the standard Lois so ably established.
No Disputing Your Points on the 'M' Line, Eric-O Department:
That's always been the singular distraction (if you wanna dub it so) since Mr. Brosnan beamed aboard but it's non-abstractly problemmatical, too, 'cause even if she did come in with an entirely new identity,
the associations of the film franchise's legacy would still be disarmingly distinctive simply by the presence of
(Less so, a'course, in that Q could simply be seen as accommodating each new incarnation of Mr. Fleming's uber-fantasy).
Still, thou dost see how little quantum of solace remains, n'est ce pas?
Now, on the face of it, Ms. d’Abo’s Kara Milovy didn’t have overly much to recommend the character but it’s to her eternal credit she made an impressive something outta what could’ve been an invisible nothing.
Not only does she possess a strikingly virtuous vulnerability but also an innate intelligence and assured sophistication that stood her in quite good stead throughout her scenes.
[ A’course, the fact she shared the simulated concert scene on screen with Meester J.B. himself
is no small an advantageous memorable adornment also ].
However, her fame doesn’t merely rest on what she did in front of the lens
but also her pivotal part in spearheading and hosting the interviews
for this marvelous must-see documentary of 2002:
She did appreciative honor to all her celluloid sisters who preceded (and would follow) her caught in the bloom (and bloomin’) ardor of Bondage.
Unexplained and Major Missed Opportunity Department:
When you cast someone comprising the captivating ingénue charm of Gemma Atherton
and then proceed to systematically under-utilize her anchored appeal
on virtually all fronts:
ya really haveta wonder what was on the minds of those responsible for such a disappointing overview.
Mind you, her Agent Fields was spirited and possessed a spark that never had the chance to bloom forth –
either as character or via her portrayer. And her Shirley Eaton-esque denoument may have been meant as some kinda golden-plated (scuzi, oil-embellished) tribute but the set-up was too skimpy for any real emotional investment one way or the other.
No doubt her career won’t capsize on accounta this (and her fame is assured merely by her appearance in this) but, dagnabbit, she goldurned deserved far better than her blink-and-ya-might-miss her
Can't comment on her case, but that description of underutilization reminds me of how I feel about Caroline Munro's presence in "Spy Who Loved Me." She deserved a much bigger spotlight than what she got IMO.
continued the franchise’s welcome expansion of encompassing the possibility not all women (to paraphrase fabulous Fiona) “hear heavenly choirs singing and return to the side of the right and virtuous”.
This is a no-nonsense foundationally-focused individual
who won’t major in minor matters where her laser-like overriding intention (and objective) is concerned.
As to that, Ms. Kurylenko displays (not only an uncanny Carrie-Ann Moss-like intensity)
but refuses to take a back seat to anything going on
with an equally-admirable physical commitment that stands her in impressive stead during her challenging action sequences (when her character swings over a roof and leaps through a window, make no mistake: that’s her).
Her chemistry with 007 is equally unpredictable in its evolution, twists and turns, all of which makes her a highly honorable successor to what began with Vesper’s introduction in Casino.
In short, the long of it is this:
Ooo-la-la, Olga, who marvelously cooks on all Bond burners …
Some Birds R Jest Born to Be Beautifully Bad Department:
And that definitely fits the form-filling bill where Ivana Milicevic’s sultry sinister Valenka is concerned,
the deliciously deceptive right-arm gal for villain Le Chiffe.
As to that, this is one of the aspects where
has been unjustifiably under-praised because the enterprising casting of the female trinity (no relation ) in this film is, without a doubt, among the most well-orchestrated and integrated across the Bond board; each women fulfills a specific function where the story is concerned and no one is there purely as fantastical wish-fulfillment.
But definitely keep your earnest eye on this vibrantly un-virtuous vixen ‘cause the warped wench is equally adept surreptiously being a most dangerous waitress-who-ain’t one
Are Still Subscribed To by Broccoli - The Next Generations Department:
This would most assuredly be the captivating case with delectable Caterina Murino as the sophisticated (but ill-fated) Solange.
Not only does she have one of the most striking introductions on Bond record
(the horse on the beach sequence, we mean, ya wisenheimers! )
and has a right attractive take-charge demeanor,
her effortless aura of culture and joyful worldliness (as apart from o-so-chic and cynical world-weariness) gives her a gravity that could’ve been transplanted back to the era of The Great Scot.
As to that, her character’s fate has more of an emotional kick to it without the heavy-handed overall ineffectiveness they tried to shoehorn Gemma Atherton’s Agent Fields with.
What Becomes of the UnBonded Broken-Hearted? Department:
Outside (never-to-be compared to or equaled with) Diana Rigg’s sublimely tragic Tracy, she’s the most pivotally important woman in 007 history. And, for the second time (in our ever Unhumble estimation), the film-makers got it remarkably right with beautifully bullseye casting.
From her first unanticipated appearance on the train, Eva Green captures Vesper Lynd’s complexity in all its compelling dimensions.
The 'hate-at-first-sight not-wanting-to-get-to-know-you-you-arrogant-bastard' sequence is just about the best damn scene between Bond and a (not-potential) paramour unencountered since The Great Scot’s exemplary era. Kudos to Paul Haggis’
exquisite character structure – everything is right there via the distinctive dialogue: the competitive disdain ( via one of our all-tyme favorite lines: “You think of women as disposable pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits”), icy but passionate intelligence, shrewd insight, playfully poisonous repartee and absolute equality of essence.
We believe Maibaum and Fleming would've proudly approved.
Ms. Green’s British accent is smoky, impeccable and convincing. As to that, Vesper's various shades -
cooly calculating where measuring men (sartorially no less than emotionally and psychologically),
haughtily imperious,
stubbornly determined, not-always-in-control but, more importantly, still In Charge.
Which leads to our Second Favorite Scene that unexpectedly showcases Vesper’s vulnerability
and Bond’s evolving intimacy.
[ Ms. Green is also responsible for one of the best Bondian quips in an interview when she said, “He’s the Bond girl in this, not me!” ].
So when the tables are turned and things shift into substantially grayish (rather than convenient black-and-white) areas, there’s a subtle inevitability to it all.
And the denoument is well worth the wait (however chagrined one is knowing what’s ahead). To their credit, the Venice sequences are every inch as Bond-spectacular as ever – when’s the last time you witnessed an entire bleedin' building incredibly capsizing in all its riveting splendor?
All of which gives David Arnold his chance to rise-to-the-occasion by crafting his most emotionally-moving musical cue for the heart-tugging watery farewell which Mr. Craig and Ms. Green – and Martin Campbell’s detailed direction – sock over smashingly.
Ah, “another time … another place”?
No, not quite that cavalier. She’s unmistakably right after Tracy in seminal significance - even tho she was, conceptually, born before her. And Ms. Green acquits this key character admirably.
The legacy of 007 is such that even as he has transcended the Cold War generation of the 50s-60s he was born into, and is still going strong nearly 50 years later, I predict it will still be the same when it comes time to mark the hundredth anniversary of the first Bond film.
Thanks neo, for making this entertaining thread possible!
Since LOTR has so generously made it feasible to synergistically fuse this site with YouTube, we figgered we’d engineer a wee wittle update on this titillating thread, too.
We’ve only gotten up to “From Russia” but afore we permanently head into the neoset, we thot we’d polish this for posterity’s sake and the enjoyment of those who might enjoy its essence long after we’re scarcely a (yeah, we know – good bloody riddance ) mem’ry.
Still, what wuzzat The Moor said about having done the (FSM) state some service?
Let’s Play Another Game of Bondage, Shall We? Department:
Although odds are hell won’t freeze over before we finally see
we can console ourselves by soliciting a new survey along the luscious lines of what world-class women YOU’D like to see considered (if not actually cast).
Our singular inauguarl choice would be ex-“East Enders” Tamzin Outhwaite.
We first were impressed by her acting talent (and equally enthralled by her beguiling beauty)
)
) mem’ry.
