“Fun-filled, far-out Comedy. You’ll love it.”
- David Sheehan, KNBC-TV / Los Angeles

Four years in the slammer for a crime she didn’t commit haven’t dampened Nikki Finn’s spirits. Nor her determination. The spunky parolee sets out to clear her name — and sets the Big Apple spinning in deliriously funny ways that have everyone asking WHO’S THAT GIRL?

“That girl” is also Madonna, the singer-songwriter-actress whose stunning achievements — including more than 30-million albums sold, a starring role in the perennial favorite DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN and the ROLLING STONE Reader’s Poll selection as 1986’s “Best Female Singer” and “Sexiest Female Rock Artist” — make her one of today’s most recognizable stars. As Nikki, Madonna displays all her talents, singing four terrific songs (“Causing a Commotion,” “The Look of Love,” “Can’t Stop” and the smash-hit title tune) from the top-selling WHO’S THAT GIRL soundtrack LP and giving a charismatic “watch-that-girl” performance. “Madonna is sexy and funny — a very engaging comedian,” says Vincent Canby of THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Griffin Dunne (AFTER HOURS) co-stars as a “Yupper-class” Mr Mild Time who encounters life-changing wild times when his straight-and-narrow path leads him to zany Nikki — and zanier escapades.

WHO’S THAT GIRL. It’s not a question. It’s the answer if you’re looking for fun-and-music-filled entertainment with a screwball BRINGING UP BABY and WHAT’S UP, DOC? twist!


TRIVIA:

• Regarding Madonna’s acting abilities, director James Foley said she was very uptight and into every detail. “That’s probably why it wasn’t so good. In DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, when she didn’t know what she was doing, she was being natural and at her best.”

• The film was originally titled SLAMMER, until Madonna wrote “Who’s That Girl” and decided to use it as the theme song. The song went to #1 on the Billboard chart in August 1987 while the film itself was a significant box office flop.

• Originally, Sean Penn was set to co-star with Madonna. After SHANGHAI SURPRISE flopped, the producers opted to go with Griffin Dunne, fresh from his success with AFTER HOURS.

• During the development of the opening titles, Madonna asked director James Foley if they could have a cartoon figure of her character introducing the credits. Foley liked the idea and Warner enlisted cartoonist April March to create the cartoon sequence.

• To further promote the movie, Madonna embarked on the 1987 Who’s That Girl World Tour. It was her first tour on that magnitude level, reaching Asia, North America and Europe.

• Following the opening credits which depict the initial events setting up the story four years earlier, the film begins on the morning of Friday, September 11, 1987 and carries on into the mid-morning of September 12.

• Warner Brothers did not arrange for an advance screening of the movie. They believed Madonna’s popularity would draw moviegoers to it.

• The title song, “Causing a Commotion,” “The Look of Love” and “Can’t Stop” are featured songs on the soundtrack album of the film. “The Look of Love” was included in the Who’s That Girl world tour of 1987. “Causing a Commotion” was used in both the Who’s That Girl and Blonde Ambition tours. The title song was part of the Who’s That Girl and Rebel Hearts tours. However, “Can’t Stop” has never been performed live.

• Madonna commented that she had a lot in common with the character of Nikki Finn. “She’s courageous and sweet and funny and misunderstood. But she clears her name in the last and that’s always good to do. I’m continuously doing that with the public. I liked both Nikki’s tough side and her sweet side. The toughness is only a mask for the vulnerability she feels inside.”

• The film ultimately had a better box office reception in the foreign market, prompting Madonna to defend herself, somewhat weekly, that her ideas were better accepted in Europe and Japan, rather than in her home country. She added, I think the movie did poorly in America because I upstaged it with my tour. People were confused about the connection between the record, the tour and the movie because they all had the same title. I also think there are people who want me to do well in both fields. I had to really fight to get any respect from the music business and now I guess there are people who feel I ought to be grateful for that respect and stick to music.” Nevertheless, Warner Brothers decided to release the movie on home video on November 11, 1987, a decision not approved by Madonna.

• WHO’S THAT GIRL has been released on home video in the VHS, LaserDisc formats on November 11, 1987. It was released in the DVD format on February 14, 2006 and on streaming on January 15, 2008. It was released in the Blu-ray format on July 2, 2024.

• Early on in the film, Nikki (Madonna) and London (Griffin Dunne) go shopping at Sam Goody, a music and video store chain. The stores were associated with Media Play, Musicland and On-Cue in the 1980s to mid-2000s.

• Talented Spanish Harlem-born musician and actor Coati Mundi appeared as the murderous gangster / pimp Raoul. He also wrote and performed the film soundtrack song “El Coco Loco.”

• The horn on Mrs Worthington’s (Bibi Besch) Rolls Royce plays the opening bars of Sinatra’s hit song “New York, New York.”

• WHO’S THAT GIRL had its television debut in May 1988 on HBO and Cinemax. Its network television debut was in July 1990 on NBC.


FILMING DATES: October 27, 1986 - February 7, 1987
RELEASE DATES:
- August 7, 1987 (US / Canada)
- October 23, 1987 (UK)

1987

PG

024543711179

Movie

1.85:1

94

United States

2006-02-14

MPEG-4 AVC

1080p

1.85:1

N/A

1

A

Snap Case

~$14.47

2024-10-12

2018-02-07 21:33:06