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Sir Miles Messervy
In Ian Fleming's novels, M's real name is Rear Admiral Sir Miles Messervy KCMG; the name, hinted at throughout the series, was finally revealed in The Man with the Golden Gun, Fleming's final novel. In the films, only his first name Miles was revealed (in The Spy Who Loved Me), and he also has the rank of Rear Admiral. It is assumed that the first M of the films, as played by Bernard Lee, and that of Fleming's books are the same person. Most notably, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, M is portrayed at his home, Quarterdeck, with his idiosyncratic domestic arrangements transferred intact from the novel. In the novels, M displays a liking for Bond, when he bends the rules for Bond on several occasions. For instance in the short story For Your Eyes Only, Bond agrees to carry out a private assassination for M, while in The Man with the Golden Gun, Bond attempts to assassinate M himself; this is as a result of extreme Soviet brainwashing and M insists that Bond be rehabilitated rather than punished. In the first post-Fleming book, Colonel Sun, M is kidnapped from Quarterdeck and Bond goes to great lengths to rescue him. In the later books, written by John Gardner, Messervy protects Bond from the new, less aggressive climate in the Secret Service, saying that "sometime this country will need a blunt instrument." In the movies, their relationship is similar. FilmsM was played by Bernard Lee from the first Bond movie, Dr. No, until Moonraker (1979). Lee died in 1981 and, out of respect, the character was removed from that year's For Your Eyes Only (1981), with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff or Q. The film version of Dr. No suggests that Messervy is a relatively recent appointee to the position of M (he boasts about his ability to reduce the number of operative casualties since taking the job), suggesting someone else held the job before him. Gardner makes references to M's predecessors in Scorpius, again suggesting that Messervy is not the first M. Also, in the film version of Dr. No, M is heard to call himself head of MI7 (the actor originally said MI6, but for reasons unknown was overdubbed with the now-fictional MI7 prior to the film's release); this contradicts later films that state he is in charge of MI6. Messervy in real life
Fleming biographer John Pearson states in his 1966 book The Life of Ian Fleming that M may in fact be based on Fleming's own mother: "There is reason for thinking that a more telling lead to the real identity of M lies in the fact that as a boy Fleming often called his mother M. [...] While Fleming was young, his mother was certainly one of the few people he was frightened of, and her sternness toward him, her unexplained demands, and her remorseless insistence on success find a curious and constant echo in the way M handles that hard-ridden, hard-killing agent, 007."[1] Featured in:
Robert Brown as M
After Lee's death in 1981, the producers hired actor Robert Brown to continue the role in the Bond films. Brown picks up the role in Octopussy, however it is never explicitly stated on screen whether Robert Brown's character is intended to be the same person played by Lee, or if he was intended to be Admiral Hargreaves, the role played by Brown in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. Later Bond novels by John Gardner retain Sir Miles Messervy as M. Raymond Benson's 1998 novel, The Facts of Death is more clear by having Hargreaves present at a party hosted by Sir Miles Messervy. Other films hint that they are not the same character. The World Is Not Enough (1999), for instance, features an oil-painting portrait of Bernard Lee as the original M, prominent on a wall behind Judi Dench, as the current M, in the Scottish MI6 headquarters. One further thing to note is that in the pre-title credits to The Living Daylights, M's insignia suggests he is a Rear Admiral, which would mean if he is Hargreaves then he has been demoted, since Hargreaves' insignia in The Spy Who Loved Me suggests he is a Vice Admiral. As played by Brown, M lacks a sense of humor and has absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for Bond's antics, which supports the theory that this M is Hargreaves and not Messervy. Brown's M came off tougher than his predecessor, wasting no time to revoke Bond's licence to kill in the film Licence to Kill when Bond went off on a vendetta. Featured In:
Edward Fox as M
In 1983's unofficial Never Say Never Again, it is clearly stated that a new M is in post, played by Edward Fox. This M is concerned primarily with making the books balance and constantly testing agents. He is quite open about his low regard for Bond. Featured in:
Judi Dench as M
After the long period between Licence to Kill and GoldenEye, the producers brought in Dame Judi Dench to take over as the new M. The character is said to have possibly been based on Stella Rimington, the head of MI5 between 1992 and 1996. M's real name has yet to be revealed in the films, but recent Bond novelist Raymond Benson gives her the name Barbara Mawdsley. This is verified from www.imdb.com as being part of the original script. Unlike the ambivalence of Brown's M, Dench clearly plays a new person appointed to the position of M (putting to rest a long time debate over the nature of the character). In GoldenEye, she is clearly established as different from her predecessors; she is cold, blunt, and unabashedly dislikes Bond, whom she calls a "sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War." Tanner, her Chief of Staff refers to her during the film as "the evil queen of numbers." In later films she begins to care more about 007. Whatever affection she may have for 007 never interferes with her unerring professional detachment, however; in Die Another Day, she orders her subordinates to disavow Bond after he is taken prisoner in North Korea, and abandons him to be tortured for 14 months. Although it would appear that Dench's M and Bond don't get along too well, M still has the same high professional respect for Bond that her predecessors had (from The World Is Not Enough: "He's the best we have, although I'd never tell him."). There have also been brief references to M's family: one in GoldenEye (where she responds to Tanner's "Evil Queen of Numbers" jab by telling him when she wants to hear sarcasm, she'll listen to her children) and two in The World is Not Enough (early on when Sir Robert King wishes M the best to her family, and later when she remembers how she had advised King not to pay the ransom for his daughter even though it went against "every instinct [she] had as a mother"). Casino Royale RebootDench again plays M for the 2006 film Casino Royale. In this film M has no history with Bond, unlike her first appearance in GoldenEye where her relationship with Bond concentrated on the fact that she is a successor to another M. She promotes Daniel Craig's Bond to double-0 status and sends him on his first mission. Also, her home appears for the first time when Bond breaks in to use her home computer's security clearance and in a later scene she is shown sleeping in bed next to an unidentified man, suggesting a husband or lover, probably father of the children mentioned above. Bond reveals that in finding her home address he also found out her real name. Bond almost reveals M's name onscreen, which dialogue suggests either begins with the letter M (possibly a confirmation that her name is Barbara Mawdsley,) or possibly refers to the syllable 'Em'. She stops him before he does and warns that should he say one more syllable she would "have him killed." While it is possibly an additional retcon of the James Bond universe it could also be a coincidence, as in the case of Sir Miles Messervy, or simply a joke on Bond's part. The answer has yet to be established onscreen. Featured in:
She also appeared in four James Bond video games, and Judi Dench voiced two of those
Casino Royale 1967 spoofThe 1967 film spoof Casino Royale featured not one but two Ms. The first is played by John Huston. In this film (which is considered non-canon), M's real name is McTarry and he is accidentally killed when (for some reason) he orders the military to fire mortars at Bond's mansion when the retired spy refuses to return to duty. The first quarter of the film features Bond's subsequent visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M's remains recovered after the attack – his toupee, referred to as a "hair-loom". Subsequently, Bond (David Niven) becomes the new M and proceeds to order that all MI6 agents, male and female, be renamed 'James Bond 007' in order to confuse the enemy... and the audience. M outside regular Bond-continuityThe novel Son of Holmes by John T. Lescroart establishes that the very first M was Sherlock Holmes' elder brother, Mycroft Holmes. The graphic novels in Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series establish that the 1898-era League (led by Mina Murray) was directed by Campion Bond, who served under a master called M. This M was later revealed to be none other than James Moriarty in disguise, using the League to win a gang war against Fu Manchu. After the death of Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes assumed the role of M. See alsoReferences
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