Curio: When Madonna Was Breathless
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 9:38AM Alexa here. Madonna turns 53 today. Her profile seems relatively low-key lately; sometimes I feel like I'm reading more about Lourdes than her mom. But this bit of kitsch I saw for sale on etsy the other day brought me back to the days of the Madonna media juggernaut.
That's right, a set of Dick Tracy and Breathless Mahoney dolls from 1990. Yes, I am old enough to remember seeing this movie in the theater. A month prior to its release I had tickets to Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour and alas, she canceled because of throat issues (later memorably documented in Truth or Dare). At the time, Madonna called Dick Tracy the "best movie I've ever been in." After lining up to see it opening night I strongly disagreed, and not just because I was still stung by her concert cancellation. This was Warren Beatty telling a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Madonna Marble!There are quite a few Dick Tracy curios up for sale now, including an opening night t-shirt (that acted as your admission ticket for midnight screenings), marbles, and a scarf.
It's hilarious to see this tie-in merchandise so long after a film has come and gone. You can see how strong the studio backing was, how high hopes were for a franchise. And today, I'd probably rather watch Filth and Wisdom than sit through Dick Tracy again.
Curio, Dick Tracy, Madonna, Warren Beatty, concerts, dolls
Reader Comments (5)
I enjoyed Dick Tracey at the time - but never sat through it again. Still - performance wise I loved what she did with Nikki Sue Trott - the Atlanta Trotts with the 3 t's - in Who's That Girl. Silly movie, but loved that performance. Happy Birthday Madge.
Liked DICK TRACY very much and I'm also old enough to have watched it in theatres...and old enough to have watched the Blond Ambition in one of its italian dates (less successful than the WHO'S THAT GIRLS ones...the gossip journalists in Italy in that period were pretty convinced that Madolla's star was fading away...that sounds hilarious now!)
I recently saw Dick Tracy for the first time since 1990 - it was in HD on HBO and it remains a really beautiful film to look at. So fake, but so beautiful. Anyway, it was a lot creakier dramatically up front than I remembered (I mean, I was 9 in 1990, so why would I remember that?) but I found that I ultimately was pretty wrapped up in the love triangle and the intrigue and all the beautiful colors and the grotesque make up and Pacino's glorious ham bone performance as Big Boy Caprice. The weirdest thing, watching it now, is realizing that Warren Beatty was 53 years old when the movie opened - a 53 year old man fronting what would be a $200 million movie. That would be like if George Clooney starred in Green Lantern.
Also, the songs are great and a couple of the montages that accompany said songs are soooo awesomely old fashioned.
The only reason her profile has been low is that none of the high-profile projects she's been toiling away on have premiered yet. When W.E. comes out, you better trust she'll promote the hell out of it and get an unbelievable amount of attention (good or bad) for it.
Additionally, she's between albums and currently in the recording studio.
Madonna turned in an uncharacteristically good performance in this movie and it's just a pity that Beatty chose to do cut-aways in her singing scenes where she really shone best.
And yes, she's not on the news as much these days as she's too busy working! Unlike LG, Madonna doesn't tweet nor does she update her fb status everytime she farts. :D