When “Casino Royale” opens in theaters next week, it will have all the trappings of a James Bond flick — minus one key player: Miss Moneypenny, the star-struck secretary of Bond’s boss, M. The film’s producers announced the elimination of the recurring witty character last year. Whether the move works for or against the film, it comes at a time when fashion seems just as smitten with the sexy secretary look as Moneypenny was with Bond.

Until this film, the Moneypenny character had outlasted and outclassed a decades-long list of Bond girls — the female assassins, poolside blondes, and elegant gamblers who are lured by the spy’s suave masculinity. Unlike those loose women, Moneypenny is confined to the office, where her brief interactions with Bond yield only outrageously flirty come-ons and snappy putdowns. She never gets the guy, but she also never meets an untimely end or finds herself abandoned after a roll in the hay. She’s cool, competent, smart enough to know better — and woman enough to wish she didn’t.

More than one actress was cast in the role over the years, but Lois Maxwell was the first and the definitive. While the screenwriters gave Moneypenny her witty lines, it was Ms. Maxwell who added the charm, particularly when Bond was played by Sean Connery. In the early films, the young Moneypenny and Bond flirt in a way that today would probably land someone in a sexual harassment suit — and not necessarily the male.

In “Dr. No” (1962), Bond asks Moneypenny, “What gives?” Her response: “Me. Given an ounce of encouragement.”

But Moneypenny is hardly desperate. The flirting has a playful, harmless quality in that both she and Bond know that nothing will come of it. Which allows for a certain amount of needling on both sides. In “Thunderball” (1965), Bond is recuperating at a spa, using a limited diet and the best of early 1960s exercise technology. On the phone to headquarters, he greets Moneypenny by saying, “Next time I see you, I’ll put you across my knee.” She laughs: “On yogurt and lemon juice? I can hardly wait.”

In “Goldfinger” (1964), the two have their lengthiest exchange and one that is a little more earnest than usual. When Bond asks Moneypenny what she knows about gold, she uses the opportunity to imply that she’s the marrying kind.

“The only gold I know about is the kind you wear. You know, on the third finger of your left hand.”

“One of these days, we really must look into that.”

“What about tonight? You come ’round for dinner,” she says as she whizzes his hat across the room and onto the coatrack. “And I’ll cook you a beautiful angel cake.”

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, but unfortunately I do have a business appointment.”

Suspecting he’s lying, Moneypenny asks, Who’s the girl? At which point, M interrupts them on the intercom: “She is me, Miss Moneypenny. And kindly omit the customary by-play with 007. He’s dining with me, and I don’t want him to be late.”

“So there’s hope for me yet.”

“Moneypenny, won’t you ever believe me?”

The costumes for Moneypenny change somewhat over the years, but she is — especially in the early films — dressed just alluringly enough for government work. Her wardrobe consists mainly of dresses or skirt-and-blouse combinations, rather than suits. She certainly does not wear pants. Multiple strands of pearls are her single accessory. In at least one film, she’s smoking in the office — and looking rather elegant in the process.

Moneypenny is at her most alluring in “From Russia With Love,” in which she wears a waist-accenting tan pencil skirt and a blue blouse with three-quarter length sleeves and an up-turned collar. In “Thunderball,” she goes flashier with a colorful print shirt and later in the film, a slim pink dress with a wide, bateau collar.

Compared to Bond’s glamorous world — in which, say, Ursula Andress does not wear pants because a shirt and belt are plenty — the look is strictly professional. It’s modest, yes, but attractive in a way that signals a working girl’s resolve: She’s got better things to do than daydream about an international man of mystery.

Even though Moneypenny will not grace the screen in “Casino Royale,” her look lives on. On the runways for fall, a similar style emerged, with loads of dresses belted at the waist to accent an hourglass figure. High-neck blouses in sheer fabrics and slim skirts popped up repeatedly. And while there’s a slouchy T-shirt and skinny jeans trend to counterbalance things, the prim, pretty look is one that compliments a woman’s figure. It’s a classic look that says — as Moneypenny does in “Dr. No” — “Flattery will get you nowhere. But don’t stop trying.”

Keeping Time with 007

James Bond films are classic vehicles for product placement, and newcomer Daniel Craig will take the lead role in “Casino Royale” with plenty of toys. The watch brand Omega continues its sponsorship of the franchise with its latest stainless steel diving watch, the Seamaster Professional 300M. The timepiece — with self-winding movement and a face in classic blue — sells for $3,050 at Tourneau TimeMachine (12 E. 57th St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-758-7300).