Breathless Mahoney

Breathless Mahoney is a femme fatale in the American comic strip Dick Tracy which was created by Chester Gould in 1931.[1][2][3] She first appeared in the strip on May 11, 1945,[4] and was apparently killed on August 26, 1946.[5]

Breathless Mahoney
Publication information
PublisherTribune Media Services
First appearanceMay 11, 1945
Created byChester Gould

The character found worldwide fame in 1990 in the much-hyped Dick Tracy film, as a villainous nightclub singer played by pop superstar Madonna. The character's glamorous outfits, described extensively in the press, sparked a brief fad for 1940s fashion.

Comic strip character

Breathless Mahoney was created by Chester Gould and introduced to the Dick Tracy comic strip on May 10, 1945.[6][7] Garyn G. Roberts, author of Dick Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context, noted that the introduction of Breathless coincided with Gould's efforts to "integrate characters and episodes with a sophistication that would mark the 1950s Tracy continuities".[6] The character was illustrated as an attractive young blonde intended to resemble actress Veronica Lake.[8] Breathless is portrayed as greedy and obsessed with money, willing to commit murder to obtain it. She is the stepdaughter of Shaky, a Dick Tracy antagonist who had recently been killed in the storyline; she discovers his skeletal remains near the waterfront in one of the strips.[9] Writer Meredith M. Malburne-Wade said the character is named "Breathless" because "she both speaks in a breathy voice meant to pull others closer to her and strives to leave the men around her breathless in her wake".[10]

The original comic strip version of Breathless Mahoney is depicted as a ruthless and psychopathic killer, in contrast to the character's more sympathetic later version in the 1990 film adaptation of Dick Tracy.[7][11] At one point, she stabs a man in the back with a pair of pruning shears.[11] During one of her storylines, Breathless encounters B.O. Plenty, an unkempt hillbilly-like character who schemes to steal her money.[9] Roberts said of this storyline: "The conflict between the physically beautiful villainess and the unwashed country bumpkin makes for entertaining reading."[9] Breathless made her final appearance in a Dick Tracy comic strip on August 25, 1946, in which the character died. Just before her death, while laying in a hospital bed, she wrote a final letter forgiving B.O. Plenty for past issues she had with him.[12]

1990 movie

Breathless Mahoney appears in the film adaptation Dick Tracy (1990),[13][14] in which she is portrayed by actress and singer Madonna.[15][16][17] The film character differs from the original comic strip counterpart, most notably in her profession as a nightclub singer.[11] She is also less violent and psychopathic that the comic strip version of the character,[7][11] more calculating in her actions, and is revealed to be as intelligent as Dick Tracy himself.[11] Writers Christopher L. Lukinbeal and Cristina B. Kennedy wrote of the character: "Breathless, in the film, provides a complex, more 1980s, opposition of good and evil, moral and amoral."[11] In another difference from the source material, Breathless was not introduced in the comic strip until 1945, but the film is set in the 1930s. She is one of several characters in the film who was introduced in the 1940s in the comic, along with 88 Keyes and Sam Catchem.[18] Breathless Mahoney also disguises herself in the film as a villain known as "The Blank", wearing a mask that makes her appear to have no face. This is another deviation from the original character; The Blank was a character in the original Dick Tracy comic strip, but he was not associated with Breathless Mahoney at all. Madonna, who was dating Dick Tracy star and director Warren Beatty at the time, sought the role of Breathless, but offered to work for scale to avoid the perception of nepotism, earning just $35,000 for the film.[19][20]

In the film, Breathless is portrayed as a femme fatale,[11][21] and as Lukinbeal and Kennedy note: "Where Tracy represents day, she represents night. While Tracy fights to protect the city from evil, Breathless is only concerned with her own future and, like Big Boy Caprice, with her desire to "own" the city."[11] The song "More", which Breathless sings at a nightclub, is symbolic of her plans to own the city, according to writer Steve Swayne. On the surface, it sounds like a song about a flirtatious woman who can never get enough, but Swayne said it in fact symbolizes her secret plan to trap Big Boy Caprice and take over his criminal operation. The fact that Breathless continues to sing the song unabated in the nightclub while Big Boy's men engage in a shootout with the police, due to events Breathless herself put into motion, only further underscore this.[22] Breathless is portrayed as Dick Tracy's temptress in the film, providing as a stark contrast against his girlfriend Tess Truehart, who represents the more pure and clean-cut choice.[23][24]

In the book The Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films, Meredith M. Malburne-Wade writes that Breathless and Tess "occupy predominantly standard (and stereotypical) roles for women".[10] She also wrote: "The two women seem, on the surface, to clearly occupy opposite sidse of the angel/whore or angel/monster dichotomy set out by many feminist and literary critics. ... Mahoney is the monster/whore, posing as a man, flaunting her body and sexuality, and ultimately challenging men who try to control her."[10] She says Breathless' advances on Dick Tracy and others in the film stereotypically suggest men are simply victims of sexually-available women. However, Malburne-Wade also notes that both Breathless and Tess are "largely constrained by masculinity and by love" in the film,[10] and that Breathless has little control herself over the direction of her own life, which is instead dictated by the actions of gangsters like Lips Manlis and Big Boy Caprice, the latter of whom is physically abusive toward her.[21] She writes: "The fact that her sexuality is her only bargaining chip – and one that is as likely to get her beaten as it is to get her kissed – suggests a brutally patriarchal world."[21] The only time she holds power over her own destiny is when she disguises herself as a man: The Blank.[21] In the book Madonna as Postmodern Myth, Georges-Claude Guilbert writes that in Dick Tracy, Madonna's Breathless Mahoney "is a bad girl because in a macho world, women in power are disturbing".[25]

Garyn G. Roberts wrote that Madonna's established image as a singer and celebrity "played well into the character of Breathless Mahoney; her singing was one of several highlights of the motion picture production".[7] Madonna, in character as Breathless Mahoney, sings several songs in the Dick Tracy film. Many of these songs were included in the soundtrack album Madonna released called I'm Breathless (1990), which was also named after the character.[23] Among the songs is a duet of Stephen Sondheim's "What Can You Lose" between Breathless and 88 Keys (Mandy Patinkin).[26] Others include the song "More",[22] and "Sooner or Later", both of which Madonna sings in character as Breathless, and the latter of which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.[27] In a review of I'm Breathless for Entertainment Weekly, Greg Sandow noted that Breathless' role as a temptress in the film resulted in Madonna "pushing sexual barriers farther than ever in I'm Breathless".[23]

Following the release of the film, several companies began developing garments inspired by Breathless' character.[28][29] For example, the Los Angeles company L.A. Glo created a dress collection inspired by Breathless, with dress costs ranging from $70 to $180.[28][29][30]

References

Citations
  1. The New York Times
  2. Entertainment Weekly
  3. Comicvine.com
  4. The Complete Dick Tracy, Volume 9 by Chester Gould, IDW Publishing (2009)
  5. The Complete Dick Tracy, Volume 10 by Chester Gould, IDW Publishing (2010)
  6. Roberts 1993, p. 105
  7. Roberts 1993, p. 279
  8. Roberts 1993, pp. 105–106
  9. Roberts 1993, p. 106
  10. Malburne-Wade 2019, p. 79
  11. Lukinbeal, Christopher L.; Kennedy, Christina B. (1993). "Dick Tracy's Cityscape". Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. 55: 76–96. doi:10.1353/pcg.1993.0013. JSTOR 24040084.
  12. Roberts 1993, pp. 279–280
  13. Canby, Vincent (June 15, 1990). "Review/FIlm; A Cartoon Square Comes to Life In 'Dick Tracy'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  14. Brunsdale 2010, p. 683
  15. Canby, Vincent (June 15, 1990). "Dick Tracy (1990) Review/FIlm; A Cartoon Square Comes to Life In 'Dick Tracy'". The New York Times.
  16. Vanity Fair
  17. Entertainment Weekly
  18. Roberts 1993, p. 281
  19. Thakur 2010, p. 198
  20. David Ansen; Pamela Abramson (June 25, 1990). "Tracymania". Newsweek. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  21. Malburne-Wade 2019, p. 80
  22. Swayne, Steve (Spring 2004). "So Much "More": The Music of "Dick Tracy" (1990)". American Music. 22 (1): 60. doi:10.2307/3592966. JSTOR 3592966.
  23. Sandow, Greg (May 25, 1990). "I'm Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  24. Malburne-Wade 2019, p. 78
  25. Guilbert 2002, p. 100
  26. Roberts 1993, p. 279
  27. "Warren Beatty's 'Dick Tracy' on Blu-ray for first time". USA Today. December 15, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  28. Herman, Valli (May 15, 1990). "Dick Tracy inspires some arresting looks". The Lancaster Intelligencer Journal. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  29. Johnson, Marilyn (May 30, 1990). "Fashion detectives can track down 1940s duds". Oceanside North County Times. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  30. Homan, Becky (July 12, 1990). "Not Left Breathless: Tracy's Fashion Statement Makes Barely a Whisper". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 28 February 2020.

Works cited
  • Brunsdale, Mitzi M. (2010). Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313345302.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Guilbert, Georges-Claude (2002). Madonna As Postmodern Myth: How One Star's Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786414081.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Malburne-Wade, Meredith M. (2019). Murguía, Salvador Jimenez; Dymond, Erica Joan; Fennelly, Kristina (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Sexism in American Films. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1538115510.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Roberts, Garyn G. (1993). "Dick Tracy (1990)". Dick Tracy and American Culture: Morality and Mythology, Text and Context. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0899508804.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Thakur, Pradeep (2010). Madonna: Unstoppable!. ASIN B009AOICHU.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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