Original M is Miles?

Halcon

Watched the Spy who Loved Me last night.

M is referred to as Miles, am i the last one to catch this?

Anyway, I thought it was great that i 'discovered' this tidbit. -{

Thunderpussy

) you might be Halcon. Still it's still a discovery {[] and there are
Loads more out there. I only noticed the other night Q flinching as the
Machine gun is fired in the Q scene in Goldfinger, and I must of seen it
A hundred times or more )

Barbel

The original M, in the Fleming novels, was Admiral Sir Miles Messervy and was played till MR by Bernard Lee. There is debate over whether Robert Brown (M from OP till LTK) was still Messervy or a promoted Admiral Hargreaves, played by Brown in TSWLM. The only evidence either way is that both Hargeaves and Messervy appear in one of Raymond Benson's novels, "The Facts of Death"- as does female M Barbara Mawdsley.

Barbel

Yes, after this man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming who was one of the main sources for Fleming's character (the other being http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Godfrey ).

Thunderpussy

I think on QI, they said "C" after a car crash had to cut his own leg off !
They were made of strong stuff in the old days.

CmdrAtticus

M was modeled after Admiral Godfrey, the head of the Admiralty's NID section during the war and Fleming's boss. He gave him the initial M in reference to Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who was first head of SIS. Every person who's filled the post since then is still referred to as "C" in honor of Smith-Cumming. Fleming most probably used M because C's first name was Mansfield (which oddly enough, is the name of the town I lived in for a time in my youth). He probably chose the name Messervy to match the letter, though as with C it was probably just a coincidence and that men who served before and after Messervy's post could have a last name starting with any letter.

For some strange reason, I never fully took to Lee's casting as M. Though he had the gruff, no nonsense personality of the novel M, I never bought him as coming from a background that would produce an RN officer. Lee's father was an actor and from all accounts not from upper middle class or upper class background where RN officers usually come from. Also, in other roles I saw him in (such as the sailor in Coward's film "In Which We Serve"), he seemed more convincing as a regular sailor as to a character like Coward's officer.

I worked with an RN captain for many months when I was stationed on a NATO base and also met many UK officers including an RN admiral. Actors who seemed to fit this mold for me were men like Trevor Howard (who I think would have made a great M in the EON films), or Ivor Dean, who was a character actor who used to play police detectives and other authoritarian types. Strangely, both Howard and Lee worked together in the classic film "The Third Man". If you watch it, you'll notice Lee is playing an enlisted sergeant and Howard is playing an officer.

I actually like Robert Brown when he took over Lee's role. He came across to me more like the real RN officers I had met during my service.

Admiral Godfrey


Trevor Howard


Ivor Dean


Howard and Lee in Third Man

Barbel

Trevor Howard would have been too big a star for Eon to afford at the time of the early Bond movies. For a look at what his M might have been like, take a look at "The Liquidator" (which has a good few Bond connections: John Gardner, Jill St. John, Shirley Bassey, etc).

Barbel

Just dropping in info; a few facts among the opinions. If you want to start a "Who might have been a good M" thread, go ahead.

Halcon

thanks for the great info!

i honestly never had caught this. B-)

Barbel

you're welcome!

Thunderpussy

Although under new EEC regulations he's to be known as kilometres !

Higgins

) ) )

We've just discovered a new nickname for Sir Miles

CmdrAtticus

stag wrote:

Trevor Howard, I had never considered him but yes I agree, an inspired choice. Perhaps this could be the start of an interesting convo - "which actor, living or dead, do you think would have made a good M?"

For starters perhaps Jack Hawkins?

Another good choice. I met an RAF captain who reminded me of him. He was great in Lawrence of Arabia in a very "M like" role and was wonderful in Bridge on The River Kwai as the SOE officer.

Sir Miles

Higgins wrote:

) ) )

We've just discovered a new nickname for Sir Miles

We still have plenty for you, my friend B-)