- "If you carry a double-O number, it means you're licensed to kill, not get killed."
- ― M to James Bond
Sir Miles Messervy (known by his first initial, "M") is a character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series; the character is the Head of Secret Intelligence Service—also known as MI6.
M was played by Bernard Lee from the first Bond film Dr. No, until Moonraker. As in the novels, it is hinted that M's real name is Vice Admiral Sir Miles Messervy. While his name was hinted at throughout the novel series and finally revealed in The Man with the Golden Gun, in the film series only his first name, Miles, was revealed (in The Spy Who Loved Me). Like his novel counterpart, he also has the rank of Vice Admiral and it is generally assumed that the M of the films and of Fleming's books are one and the same person. Lee portrayed M in all of the six Sean Connery films as well as George Lazenby's film and in the first four Roger Moore films. He is succeeded by Robert Brown in 1983's Octopussy.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
- "Since I've been head of Ml6, there's been a forty percent drop in double-0 operative casualties. I want it to stay that way."
- ― M to James Bond
In Dr. No, M refers to his record in reducing the number of operative casualties since taking the job, implying someone else held the job recently before him. The film also saw M refer to himself as head of MI7; Lee had originally said MI6, but was overdubbed with the name MI7 prior to the film's release. Earlier in the film, the department had been referred to as MI6 by a radio operator.[1]
Dr. No (film)[]
Working late into the morning, M learnt that John Strangways has disappeared along with his newly appointed secretary while stationed in Jamaica. He summons James Bond and informed him that Strangways was on loan to the Americans due to them reporting issues with their rocket launches in the region. He then gave Bond orders to investigate Strangways' disappearance and gave him the name of Felix Leiter, a CIA agent who had been working with Strangways. M summoned the armorer, Major Boothroyd, and learnt Bond is using his old Beretta 418. After chastising him for continuing to use a gun that jammed during a mission and cost Bond six months in the hospital, M officially ordered that Bond carry a new weapon: the Walther PPK. Upon wishing him luck in the mission, M noticed that Bond had slyly taken back his Baretta and confiscated it, before going back to his work.
From Russia with Love (film)[]
One day, M was informed that Tatiana Romanova, a Russian file clerk, was willing to defect to the West from the Soviet Union with access to a Lektor machine only if James Bond was sent to retrieve her. While he immediately realized that it was likely a trap, M nevertheless summoned Bond and informed him of the situation. M gave Bond a photograph of Romanova, and officially assigned him the task of collecting her. He then summoned Q to instruct Bond on his equipment for the mission contained within a Attaché Case, which included a Armalite AR-7 Survival Rifle, even though Bond was confident that he likely would not need it, M still had him take it as a precaution and wished him good luck.
M later gathered with multiple high ranking military personnel to listen to a recording that Bond had sent through via the Tape-Recorder Camera, where Bond had instructed Romanova to give him important information about the Lektor and how to find it. When Romanova's conversation became flirtatious and highly suggestive, M ordered Miss Moneypenny to leave his office, and continued listening to the recording once she had left. M would later send Captain Norman Nash to meet with Bond in Zagreb, although Nash would be assassinated by Red Grant before he could meet with Bond.
Goldfinger (film)[]
M tasked James Bond to observe and investigate Auric Goldfinger on his business activities in Florida; upon hearing 007's return report, M was surprised to learn of the nature of Jill Masterson's death of being covered with gold paint and dying of skin suffocation, but still chastised Bond for not abiding by his given orders and blowing his cover. After a tense moment where Bond talked back to him, M instructed Bond to report back to the Universal Exports Headquarters, later that night, as they would be dining with Colonel Smithers, who was in charge of the Bank of England.
Once Bond had left his office, M knew that he would likely pause to flirt with Miss Moneypenny, so used their speaker to tell the pair to hurry up and allow 007 to leave and prepare for their dinner with Smithers. During the dinner, M was impressed by Bond's knowledge of the drinks that they were being served, which had also impressed Smithers. M agreed with the decision to have 007 temporarily borrow a gold bar from them in order to get a meeting with Goldfinger, who was believed to be smuggling gold bullion around the world.
Thunderball (film)[]
M assigned James Bond to attend the Shrublands health farm, after the agent was reported to have a need for physical conditioning. After it was discovered that two nuclear warheads have been stolen by SPECTRE, M called an emergency meeting with every 00 Agent within MI6 to resolve the crisis, which Bond arrived late to, resulting in M making a comment as he arrived.
M led the meeting as they listened to a recording that he had been sent to them, in which Ernst Stavro Blofeld gave his demands, including a ransom to be pain in exchange for the bombs not being detonated across the world. M reluctantly agreed that if the bombs were not recovered, the ransom that Blofeld was demanding would have to be paid to SPECTRE.
While informing 007 of his stationed assignment in Canada, M learnt that Bond encountered a deceased man at Shrublands the previous night who was seen in the dossier; a man known as François Derval. Despite Captain Pritchard claiming that Derval was seen boarding a Vulcan plane alive and well, M trusted 007's judgement and decided to initiate an inquiry.
He then gave Bond four days to travel to Nassau and follow a lead involving Derval's sister Domino. Once M left his office, he found Bond was still speaking with Miss Moneypenny, who jokingly referred to M as the "old man", unaware that M was listening. M gave Moneypenny a warning about using such names in reference to him, before sending Bond on his mission.
You Only Live Twice (film)[]
With James Bond's assumed assassination in Hong Kong and subsequent burial at sea to throw off his enemies, M summoned him aboard a British submarine. He informed Bond of the stolen US and Russian rockets and that he is being sent to Japan to investigate rumors that the rockets landed near there. He gave Bond the name of their contacts within Tokyo and mentions that MI6 contact, Dikko Henderson, who lived within the city, would be in contact once he arrives. M wished Bond good luck, commenting that he has to move fast due to two more planned launches within the next three weeks by both countries.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)[]
To be Added
Diamonds Are Forever (film)[]
To be added
Live and Let Die (film)[]
Three agents, Dawes, Hamilton and Baines, who were all linked to MI6's investigation of Dr. Kananga, are killed within the span of twenty-four hours, much to M's shock and dismay. Knowing the situation has become a high priority, M personally went to James Bond's residence with Miss Moneypenny in the early morning hours and informed him of his new mission. While giving what information known about Kananga and the county he governed, San Monique, M was unaware that Bond and Miss Moneypenny were leading him around to try and prevent him from discovering Agent Caruso, who had been sleeping with Bond that night and reported by the Italians as being MIA. After Bond was given his passport, watch and information about Felix Leiter and several CIA agents scouting the New Orleans area where Hamilton was killed, M and Miss Moneypenny left 007's home.
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)[]
M was notified by ballistics expert Colthorpe and Bill Tanner that a golden bullet with the fingerprints of Francisco Scaramanga had been sent to MI6, with instructions to be delivered to James Bond. Unnerved by this psychological tactic, M summoned Bond and presented the bullet to him, along with a notice to remove 007 from field work for the time being. When Bond argued that his current mission of finding Gibson and resolving the energy crisis still needed to be completed, M correctly reminded him that the threat of Scaramanga killing Bond was too great, due to the assassin's appearance being unknown to any Intelligence agency. He ordered Bond to go on leave until Scaramanga's threat was neutralized, though he did agree with Bond's statement that finding Scaramanga first would make it a more manageable threat.
Upon learning that Bond was investigating the death of 00 agent Bill Fairbanks in India, M sends operative Mary Goodnight to assist him. After Scaramanga is killed and his associate Nick Nack is defeated, M telephones Bond and Goodnight aboard the Chinese Junk ship they are on and congratulates 007; when M asks to speak with Goodnight, 007 hangs up on him after a few minutes while kissing Goodnight and misdirecting him.
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)[]
Shortly after a Russian submarine was hijacked by an unknown party, M receives word that a British nuclear submarine was also hijacked; he promised Defense Minister Frederick Gray that he would assign their best agent to the situation and had Miss Moneypenny order James Bond to return to England from Austria immediately. Meeting with Bond in a British shipping yard, M assigned 007 to head to Cairo to check on a lead regarding data on a microfilm that could point to who stole the submarine.
Later, M was informed that the British government along with the Soviet Union will be putting their resources together to find the culprits; upon travelling to Cairo, M relays this new development to Bond. M was surprised and dismayed to learn that the microfilm both Bond and Anya Amasova were searching for had the data erased but gave Bond some praise when the agent finds a clue that led to shipping magnate Karl Stromberg. After Bond and Amasova defeated Stromberg, M and Amasova's superior, General Gogol, were surprised to find the two in the middle of a romantic moment within Stromberg's escape submersible.
Moonraker (film)[]
M was notified by Fredrick Gray that the Moonraker Shuttle along with the airplane transporting it was reported missing. After a story was given to the press that both aircraft were destroyed in a crash somewhere in the Yukon, M summoned James Bond to locate the missing shuttle. He agreed with Gray that the situation was a high priority due to United States loaning the shuttle to England, telling Bond to not make any mistakes. M observed Q giving Bond his equipment for the mission, a Wrist-Mounted Dart Gun, and was caught by surprise how effortlessly it was able to be used when 007 inadvertently fired one into a painting in his office.
Later on, M was informed by Bond of a toxin manufacturing lab owned by entrepreneur Hugo Drax. He was understandably embarrassed along with Gray when the squadron of agents sent to the address find no evidence to support the claim, which unknown to any of them, was converted into a dining hall just prior to their arrival. However, 007 thought ahead and handed M a vial of toxin that he had taken during his earlier visit that had been manufactured at the site; M then passed this along to Q Branch for analysis and discreetly allowed Bond to continue his investigation while publicly placing 007 on leave, in order to appease Gray.
Personality[]
On many occasions, M demonstrates his high opinion of James Bond despite his occasionally problematic methods and flippant nature. When informed that Bond had witnessed the dead body of François Derval despite other witnesses seeing him boarding a plane after that time, M stated that 007's word was enough to make him consider that avenue of investigation worth exploring. On a later occasion, when adversary Hugo Drax was able to conceal the existence of a laboratory that Bond was attempting to show M and another official, while the other man requested that Bond be taken off the case, M quickly accepted Bond's word when Bond gave him a phial he had retrieved from the now-vanished lab for testing by Q.
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
A number of Bond scholars have noted the Bernard Lee's interpretation of the character was in line with the original literary representation; Cork and Stutz observed that Lee was "very close to Fleming's version of the character",[2] whilst Rubin commented on the serious, efficient, no-nonsense authority figure.[3] Smith and Lavington, meanwhile, remarked that Lee was "the very incarnation of Fleming's crusty admiral."[4]
Lee died of cancer in January 1981, four months into the filming of For Your Eyes Only and before any of his scenes could be filmed.[5] Out of respect, no new actor was hired to assume the role and, instead, the script was re-written so that the character is said to be on leave, with his lines given to either his Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or the Minister of Defence, Sir Fredrick Gray.[6] Later films referred to Lee's tenure as head of the service, with a painting of him as M in MI6's Scottish headquarters during the 1999 installment The World Is Not Enough.[7]
Trivia[]
- He is the first version of M to have a portrait. Olivia Mansfield and Marian Hargreaves have them in No Time to Die.
See also[]
- M (Literary)
- M (Robert Brown)
- M (Judi Dench) (classic film continuity)
- M (Judi Dench) (modern continuity)
- M (Ralph Fiennes)
- M (John Standing)
References[]
- ↑ (2002) Bond films. London: Virgin Books, p.11. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
- ↑ (2007) James Bond encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley, p.154. ISBN 978-1-4053-3427-3.
- ↑ Rubin, Steven Jay (2003). The complete James Bond movie encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp.227-228. ISBN 0-07-141246-8.
- ↑ (2002) Bond films. London: Virgin Books, p.15. ISBN 978-0-7535-0709-4.
- ↑ "Obituary: Mr Bernard Lee", 19 January 1981, p. 12. Retrieved on 4 January 2012.
- ↑ (1998) The essential Bond. London: Boxtree Ltd, p.98. ISBN 978-0-7522-2477-0.
- ↑ (2007) James Bond encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley, p.154. ISBN 978-1-4053-3427-3.