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Madonna · S5 E5
Warren Beatty
Dick Tracy, the relationship, and the moment that made it into the film before she could stop it
A Hollywood soundstage, 1989. Madonna lies across a grand piano in a sequined gown, singing a Sondheim ballad to Warren Beatty, and nobody on set can tell where the movie ends and the relationship begins.
"Die Another Day" (2002). Twelve years after Dick Tracy, Madonna is still trying to conquer Hollywood's biggest franchises, this time as a fencing instructor in the James Bond universe. The video is all angular electronics and physical stunts, the sound of someone who refuses to be kept out of any building. What started with Breathless Mahoney never really stopped.
Breathless
Warren Beatty casts Madonna as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy after spending years developing the project. She takes the role for SAG minimum pay, reportedly around $35,000, because she wants the part more than the paycheck. The film grosses over $160 million worldwide, and for a brief window it looks like Madonna might build a real film career alongside the music.
TAP TO REVEAL: How much was Madonna paid for Dick Tracy?
Die Another Day, Madonna (2002)
Produced by Mirwais, "Die Another Day" is Madonna's James Bond theme, built on crunching electronic beats and a fencing metaphor that runs through the entire lyric. Where every other Bond song is smooth and orchestral, this one is angular and electronic. Listen for the way the production deliberately clashes with the Bond tradition: Madonna walks into a room full of convention and rearranges the furniture. It is the same energy that drove her to take the Dick Tracy role for no money twelve years earlier.
Dick Tracy & Breathless
More
From I'm Breathless (1990). Another Sondheim composition from the Dick Tracy soundtrack, and the one that captures Breathless Mahoney's hunger best. "More" is a cabaret number about wanting everything and settling for nothing, which is both the character's philosophy and Madonna's entire career in miniature. Sondheim's lyric is precise and demanding, and Madonna delivers it like someone who studied for months to earn the right to sing these words.
More, Madonna (1990)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Sondheim wrote this for a fictional nightclub singer who wants everything the world has to offer. Madonna sings it as autobiography. Every line about ambition and desire sounds like it was pulled from her own diary.
What role did Madonna play in Dick Tracy?
MTV has broadcast every Madonna video for a decade without complaint. When she delivers the footage for "Justify My Love," they watch it once and refuse to air it.
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