M’s Real Name Proves She Really Was A Bond Girl

I love reading about the craft and detail that goes into film props. Whether they're cheap foam rubber guns or insanely detailed, functional items, I always get a thrill being able to learn about them, handle them, pay too much for them on Ebay. So when Renn Brown over at CHUD pointed readers toward an article on Coming Soon in which the writers of that site paid a visit to Skyfall's prop department, I ran over there to soak up every detail. It's fun, geeky stuff, and you should check it out.

Among the little bits of admittedly unimportant minutiae, however, is a total Bond bombshell! (SPOILERS COMIN'.) At the end of the film, on the box containing M's Royal Doulton Bulldog (yours for $199.99 on Amazon), is an inscription:

From the Estate of
Olivia Mansfield
Bequeathed to
James Bond

And since I love my readers more than other writers do, I immediately got out of bed, put on some pants and took a picture of the Blu-ray screen with my phone.

Some folks will point out that author Raymond Benson named M Barbara Mawdsley in his James Bond continuation novels, but as far as I'm concerned that stuff is all Expanded Universe-type fluff which you can take or leave. And I was ready to dismiss this name business in the same way, but there it is on the screen. Boom. Canon-ball! What I love most about the name is that it puts another long-running debate to rest. Olivia Mansfield? M's last name is a portmanteau of her role within the films? That makes her an Official Bond Girl, in my opinion.