Who Played It Best? (Miss Moneypenny)

TheQBranch

Hey everyone. New to the forum, did a search to see if this topic has come up before but didn't see anything.

So to date there has been 4 different actresses who have played the role of our beloved Miss Moneypenny. Each actress bringing something different to the role. But is there one that stands out to you the most? Who's the definitive Moneypenny in your world?

AlphaOmegaSin

It will always be Mrs Maxwell for me -{

herbie123

Agreed it will always be Mrs Maxwell, however just like Mr Moore she carried on in the role for a couple of films too long.

Thunderpussy

Very tough question, I'm forced through loyalty to say the
Beautiful Lois Maxwell, but I also thought Samantha Bond
came a close second. and Naomi looks to be turning
Out very good too. tough choice ! )

Barbel

I agree with TP, and was going to say much the same.

chrisisall

Lois was my first Moneypenny, and no one will ever top her (much like Connery), but I really love Caroline Bliss.

Higgins

chrisisall wrote:

Lois was my first Moneypenny, and no one will ever top her (much like Connery), but I really love Caroline Bliss.

Unfortunately - I have to agree with you.
I found C. Bliss very cute :x

Sir Hillary Bray

Always Lois for me. Looked her best in Thunderball, IMO.

chrisisall

Higgins wrote:

Unfortunately - I have to agree with you.
I found C. Bliss very cute :x

Next you'll be telling us you're a Barry Manilow fan...

Blackleiter

Ms. Maxwell for me. I also think Samantha Bond does a great job as Moneypenny, but based on her first turn in SF, Naomi Harris appears to be a strong contender for second best if she carries it off just as well in SP.

MilleniumForce

Naomi Harris and Lois maxwell. Didn't like the other two.

Higgins

chrisisall wrote:

Next you'll be telling us you're a Barry Manilow fan...

No, you're alone with that :v

broadshoulder

MilleniumForce wrote:

Naomi Harris and Lois maxwell..

Ditto

Firemass

Thunderpussy wrote:

Very tough question, I'm forced through loyalty to say the
Beautiful Lois Maxwell, but I also thought Samantha Bond
came a close second. and Naomi looks to be turning
Out very good too. tough choice ! )

Tough question? This is by far the easiest dilemma ever on ajb. LOIS MAXWELL.

I like Samantha Bond too, but she's not in the same league.

hehadlotsofguts

Lois Maxwell, definately! The scene in YOLT where Moneypenny tries to trick Bond into repeating the "i love you" password to her is my favourite Moneypenny/Bond scene.

welshboy78

Maxwell

I thought Samantha Bonds / Brozzas innuendos were sometimes a little bit OTT

always shaken

NO brainer has to be Lois .god rest her soul , she will always be the one and only Moneypenny :x

Firemass

always shaken wrote:

NO brainer has to be Lois .god rest her soul , she will always be the one and only Moneypenny :x

Roger said it best in Octopussy, "There never has been, and there never will be, anyone but you."

:x

broadshoulder

welshboy78 wrote:

Maxwell

I thought Samantha Bonds / Brozzas innuendos were sometimes a little bit OTT

I thought that - they were embarassing

Thunderpussy

I thought Samantha Bond had some great scenes, and
She has a killer delivery. -{ I expect she always was a
Cunning linguist

Absolutely_Cart

1. Lois Maxwell - Need I say more?
2. Samantha Bond - Reversed the role a bit for GE, TND and TWINE.
3. Naomie Harris - So far so good. Let's see her in a few more.
4. Caroline Bliss - Bond hitting on a secretary half his age isn't sexy.

Matt S

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

1. Lois Maxwell - Need I say more?
2. Samantha Bond - Reversed the role a bit for GE, TND and TWINE.
3. Naomie Harris - So far so good. Let's see her in a few more.
4. Caroline Bliss - Bond hitting on a secretary half his age isn't sexy.

Caroline Bliss was a bit older than half of Dalton's age, and she wasn't so young for it to be a problem. Actually she hit on him much more than he hit on her. Isn't your attraction to Lois Maxwell in A View to a Kill a bit strange? She was much older than twice your age.

eric7064

Maxwell easily.

Jag

To me, Naomie Harris was the highlight of Skyfall, by far the best actor in the whole movie (along with Judi Dench, of course). Hope it is just the beginning and she will outlast Craig!

eric7064

Jag wrote:

To me, Naomie Harris was the highlight of Skyfall, by far the best actor in the whole movie (along with Judi Dench, of course). Hope it is just the beginning and she will outlast Craig!

I'm curious where they go with Harris as Moneypenny. Much to early to say she's a favorite. I just hope she stays fairly true to the role. Her new background and story is interesting. But I just hope they don't totally change the character.

Shady Tree

Although Naomie Harris plays the same character in name at least, she occupies in SF a different dramatic role to her predecessors in the sense that she starts out in the field and is, in part, an action heroine. We therefore get to see the actor doing more with Moneypenny than other actors had had the chance to do... and she does it brilliantly. It does, however, seem like a reactionary reprise of sexist notions about the limitations and competencies of women in the workplace (notions familiar from Fleming), albeit with a modern gloss, when Harris's character hits the wrong man as she 'takes the shot' and, as an indirect consequence, regresses at the end of the movie to a secretarial position a la the original Moneypenny, with retro trappings circa 1962! Arguably, though, that final sequence of SF is just a playful, slightly surreal set piece to mark the 50th anniversary of the franchise. It'll be interesting to see where next for Harris's Moneypenny in 'SPECTRE'...

One of the admirable aspects of Lois Maxwell's performance was how she conveyed her maturity in the later Moore movies. Though her character was still pining for Bond, she graciously played this as a fond in-joke between two long-standing colleagues now both past their prime - and sometimes she inflected her performance, too, with a wistful sense of regret about an opportunity lost, the relationship which they'd finally never had.

Caroline Bliss was fine, but she had hardly anything to do in her short appearances. She played it as a sort of parody of the traditional Moneypenny. The "Barry Manilow collection" gag was a nice, funny character moment.

I always saw Samantha Bond's Moneypenny as a feisty reflection of Judi Dench's M as she might have been as a younger woman. Samantha Bond's Moneypenny fancied Bond and expressed her feelings as challenging flirtation, much as I imagine a younger M might have done. There were even certain similarities in vocal quality and personal styling between Judi Dench and Samantha Bond, suggestive of this connection between their characters. It's just a shame for Samantha Bond that, in her swan song in DAD, the virtual reality gag about Moneypenny's lust for Bond was OTT, like much else about the film - though she played it with comic panache.

It's very difficult to pick a favourite, though Lois Maxwell remains the quintessential Moneypenny.

Absolutely_Cart

I'm definitely looking forward to more of her.

broadshoulder

I'd say Lois Maxwell but Naomi Harries gives an excellent performance

Thunderpussy

I too would say Lois Maxwell is the classic Miss Moneypenny. :x although
I do think Naomi Harris will become " this generations" Miss Moneypenny. -{

PropertyOfALady

I will always love Lois Maxwell.

Enjoying Death

Lois Maxwell for me.

Growing up and living in Toronto, I always had the pleasure of reading her columns in the Toronto Sun.