Breathless Mahoney is a fictional character in the American comic strip Dick Tracy, created by Chester Gould.
[4] The character found worldwide fame in 1990 in the film Dick Tracy, as a villainous nightclub singer played by singer/actress Madonna.
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.
[13] 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.
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.
She is immediately attracted to Caprice's nemesis, Detective Dick Tracy (Beatty), and tries to seduce him, but he remains faithful to his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart (Glenne Headly).
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 Caprice and take over his criminal empire.
[23] Breathless is portrayed as a temptress in the film, providing as a stark contrast against Tess, who represents the more pure and clean-cut choice.
[17][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".
"[12] She says Breathless' advances on Dick Tracy and others in the film stereotypically suggest men are simply victims of sexually available women.
[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".