Wartime backstory see James Bond’s Miss Moneypenny in starring role
She’s been beloved worldwide for decades as James Bond’s sidekick-with-spice – but Miss Moneypenny has her own real-life backstory and it is about to be revealed.
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Author Ian Fleming had a penchant for provocatively naming the women his protagonist, James Bond, romanced and seduced throughout his adventures as 007. However perhaps the most beloved of the women in Bond’s life is not any of the ‘Bond girls’, but Secret Service chief ‘M’s’ private secretary, Miss Moneypenny.
The name itself suggests a character who is clever, efficient, and as bright as a newly-minted coin. Moneypenny is the one female constant throughout the Bond films.
Like the movies, the character of Moneypenny has evolved with the times, reflecting shifting societal values and norms, albeit perhaps belatedly. The flirtatious, overtly yearning Lois Maxwell made the role her own, appearing in the first 14 Bond films.
Maxwell – who lived her final years in Australia, before dying in 2007 – was succeeded by Caroline Bliss for two movies, The Living Daylights and License to Kill, before the delightful, more nuanced and modern Samantha Bond (no relation) took her place. Samantha Bond’s Moneypenny still secretly yearned for 007, but she covered it up with a professionalism more suited to the late 20th century workplace, often responding to Bond’s flirtatious remarks with a lifted eyebrow and an acerbic riposte.
In Skyfall, Miss Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris, was modernised completely and given a backstory for the first time. As a sniper, Moneypenny accidentally shoots Bond when M orders her to fire on the mercenary who is grappling with Bond, despite not having a clear shot. Skyfall is the first film in which Moneypenny is given a first name: Eve. It was a positive step for the role of Moneypenny in this new iteration of Bond, but in subsequent movies, her backstory became a little lost.
In real life, many women who were employed as secretaries during the time of Ian Fleming’s own career as an intelligence officer would have made excellent operatives and analysts. My novel,One Woman’s War: A Novel of the Real Miss Moneypenny, features Victoire ‘Paddy’ Bennett, who acted as Ian Fleming’s secretary at the Directorate of Naval Intelligence during World War II. Paddy has often been touted as the model for Miss Moneypenny.
Despite being made a Dame of the British Empire for her wartime service, Paddy Bennett’s contribution has largely been forgotten by the history books but she was Sorbonne-educated, intelligent, and altogether redoubtable. She even took an active role in the famous deception, Operation Mincemeat, which was dreamed up by Fleming.
Now that we are heading into a new era of post-Daniel Craig Bond, there is speculation that Moneypenny will, at last, attain the position of ‘M’, as was suggested by Roger Moore decades ago. It’s a role some of the real secretaries Fleming worked with would have filled to admiration, had they the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Whether it’s a good story choice to effectively fold the part of M and Moneypenny into one is doubtful, but we shall see.
Future casting for Moneypenny is a hot topic for debate. The film-makers have mentioned they are likely to choose a young actor to play Bond, someone who will be good for at least 10 years in the role. An interesting choice for a more youthful Moneypenny might be Simone Ashley, who gave a sterling performance in Series 2 of Bridgerton.
Alternatively I would love to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the role. Waller-Bridge was brought in to punch up the script of No Time to Die. In the character of Moneypenny, she would be a fun and interesting foil to Bond. The only danger is that she would steal the movie.
Ultimately, it’s likely Moneypenny will continue to be a slight and underdeveloped role. Tied to headquarters by her job no matter what backstory she’s given, Moneypenny will always remain in the background of any Bond movie.
But what she has, traditionally, added to the Bond franchise is the ordinary woman’s perspective; and as such, women feel drawn to her in a way we never are to a stereotypical ‘Bond girl’. We want to know more about M’s private secretary than can be told in movies where the star must be Bond and the action always takes place away from Moneypenny’s domain. Perhaps it is time for Miss Moneypenny to have a movie franchise of her own.
One Woman’s War: A Novel of the Real Miss Moneypennyby Christine Wells is available now, published by William Morrow Paperbacks. Tell us your hot pick for the next Moneypenny at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook.
Our book of the month is The Work Wives by Rachael Johns. Get it for 30 per cent off the RRP at Booktopia by using the code WIVES.
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