| Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233348] |
Sa, 11 März 2006 17:24 |
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A lot of people like to put down Robert Brown's performances as M.,
usually by saying that he was nowhere near as good as Bernard Lee (or,
hilariously, Judi Dench!). To me, Bernard Lee has always been
overrated as M. After "OHMSS," he never did anything notable with the
role (he never even smoked a pipe again), which I think had become
perfunctory to him.
Robert Brown injected a bit more life into M. First, the pipe was back
with a vengeance. As a pipe smoker, I appreciate Fleming's M. And if
you've read the books, you know M. smoked a pipe constantly. Brown's
M. has a pipe going constantly; he's even shown cleaning his pipe in
"TLD," then refilling it out of a leather tobacco pouch. Fleming would
have been proud!
I also think he brought a renewed seriousness to the role. His
interactions with Dalton in "TLD" and "LTK" are Brown's finest hours.
I also like the moment in "Octopussy" when he gets out of the car in
Berlin and then looks pensively at Bond's car as it drives away. Gone
was Bernard Lee's mugging (see "DAF"). It's a pity they didn't keep
him around when Brosnan came.
My sole objection to a Robert Brown scene: when an agent fires a
machine gun at Bond in "LTK." One of the stupidest ideas Wilson/Glen
ever came up with.
As for whether he was Messervy or Hargreaves . . . who the hell cares?
AK
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233406 ] |
So, 12 März 2006 17:42 |
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akaiser77 [at] hotmail.com said:
>A lot of people like to put down Robert Brown's performances as M.,
Untrue. He's quite popular among fans. Where did you get that idea?
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233417 ] |
So, 12 März 2006 19:19 |
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Rich Handley wrote:
> akaiser77 [at] hotmail.com said:
> >A lot of people like to put down Robert Brown's performances as M.,
>
> Untrue. He's quite popular among fans. Where did you get that idea?
I thought he was really solid. Actually he had one of the best M
scenes, I thought, in one of the worst movies: "Octopussy." When Bond
is switching Fabrege eggs and committing all sorts of illegal
foolishness, he condemns the behavior, then gives that great, subtle,
sly grin as Moore exits. It's too bad the rest of the film didn't have
characterizations which were that thought out.
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233429 ] |
So, 12 März 2006 20:33 |
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Rich,
Actually it's true. Read through the various entries on him in this
group.
AK
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233456 ] |
So, 12 März 2006 23:43 |
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<akaiser77 [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1142192001.665478.133610 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Rich,
>
> Actually it's true. Read through the various entries on him in this
> group.
Did *you* read all past posts on him? Be honest.
My impression has been that most put him second, behind Lee. I don't think
there's anyone who thinks Dench has surpassed him or anything like that.
Carcharias
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233471 ] |
Mo, 13 März 2006 04:28 |
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> A lot of people like to put down Robert Brown's
> performances as M., usually by saying that he was nowhere
> near as good as Bernard Lee (or, hilariously, Judi
> Dench!). To me, Bernard Lee has always been overrated as
> M. After "OHMSS," he never did anything notable with the
> role (he never even smoked a pipe again), which I think
> had become perfunctory to him.
>
> Robert Brown injected a bit more life into M. First, the
> pipe was back with a vengeance. As a pipe smoker, I
> appreciate Fleming's M. And if you've read the books, you
> know M. smoked a pipe constantly. Brown's M. has a pipe
> going constantly; he's even shown cleaning his pipe in
> "TLD," then refilling it out of a leather tobacco pouch.
> Fleming would have been proud!
>
> I also think he brought a renewed seriousness to the role.
> His interactions with Dalton in "TLD" and "LTK" are
> Brown's finest hours. I also like the moment in
> "Octopussy" when he gets out of the car in Berlin and then
> looks pensively at Bond's car as it drives away. Gone was
> Bernard Lee's mugging (see "DAF"). It's a pity they
> didn't keep him around when Brosnan came.
>
> My sole objection to a Robert Brown scene: when an agent
> fires a machine gun at Bond in "LTK." One of the
> stupidest ideas Wilson/Glen ever came up with.
>
> As for whether he was Messervy or Hargreaves . . . who the
> hell cares?
> AK
>
Brown's 'M' always came across as buffoonish and incompetent
to me. Take the opening scene in TLD as a good example.
He has his office (or a replica complete with desk, etc.)
moved into the bay area of the plane. So when the doors
open, all his important papers (some of which are no doubt
classified) go flying out the plane! Brilliant thinking,
'M'. This guy is supposed to be in charge of the double-oh
section of the British Secret Service?? Who's running their
counter-espionage unit, Curly Howard?
Bernard Lee was the definitive 'M'. Neither Dench nor
Brown have measured up, and I seriously doubt anyone could.
Mike
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #233473 ] |
Mo, 13 März 2006 05:24 |
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Actually, I read several (forty or fifty) posts on Brown. So no, I
didn't read ALL of them!
AK
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| Re: Robert Brown: An underrated M. [message #240456 ] |
Do, 16 März 2006 08:39 |
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Carcharias said:
>My impression has been that most put him second, behind Lee. I don't think there's anyone who thinks Dench has surpassed him or anything like that.
Sorry, hoss. I think Dench *has* surpassed Brown. She's made M
relevant again. Somewhere around DAF, M became little more than the
writers' tool for setting Bond in motion. Sometimes Lee or Brown would
turn in a notable performance, but oftentimes, they just kinda went
through the motions with M. Dench has made M formidable (easily being
snookered in TWINE aside), and I would point to two scenes to make my
point.
In LTK, when Brown's M is displeased with Bond, he seems more
inconvenienced than anything. Even when Bond "resigns," M knows he's
not going to actually let Bond go. Granted, Brown didn't write the
script, but his performance is one of, "Oh, hell, here we go..."
In DAD, when Dench's M confronts newly-released Bond and says if she
had it her way, he'd still be in North Korea...it's convincing.
Brown's M had bark, but Dench's M has bite.
Brown played the role as a frustrated old man when he wasn't being used
for laughs. Dench, however, seems comfortable in the role and has
demonstrated a wider range of behavior, making for a fuller performance.
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