‘Dick Tracy’ Score Leaves Danny Elfman Breathless

Having a tough time figuring out which “Dick Tracy” album to buy? Or how many you can afford?

Should it be the “Tracy” soundtrack, which is list-priced at $10.98 ($15.98 for CDs) and features 16 songs (though six of ‘em aren’t even in the movie, including Ice-T’s “Dick Tracy”)?

Or should it be Madonna’s “I’m Breathless” album, which also costs a steep $10.98 ($15.98 for CDs) and isn’t officially a soundtrack, though it features songs “from and inspired by” the movie? Or should you wait till July 10--and buy the album with the original score (also $10.98/$15.98), which was penned by Danny Elfman, the pop wiz behind Oingo Boingo who scored “Batman” last year?

If you can still afford to buy the score when it hits the stores, you’re in for a surprise. According to Elfman, the score has two original music cues that were cut from the film during a very unusual last-minute editing session.

“I thought my score was finished, so I’d left to go out on the road and do concert dates with Oingo Boingo,” said Elfman, taking a break from his work on a score for “Dark Man,” a new film by horrormeister Sam Raimi. “Then I get this emergency call that Disney had totally changed the concept of the opening of the film. It was originally a long, long pan across the city, with my ‘Tracy and Tess’ romantic theme underneath. But when it didn’t test well, someone--either Disney or Warren Beatty--decided to move the beginning along a lot quicker.”

With Elfman unable to fly back to oversee the changes, Disney sent him a video of the new opening credit sequence. Elfman then sat down in his hotel room and composed a new title sequence, experimenting with two different tempos to see which fit the new opening. After Disney received the changes, Elfman’s conductor, Shirley Walker, got an orchestra together and played the new piece--with Elfman listening to the entire performance, by phone, from his hotel room in Milwaukee!

“As soon as our gig was over I rushed back to my hotel and listened to the session, trying to figure out which tempo sounded best,” he said. “I guess it’s a great story because now I’m hearing all these wild accounts, with people saying I was demanding they add a first violin or complaining that the cellos were too loud. That never happened. We had two different edits, so all I ever did was shout once in a while, ‘Let’s try the faster version!’ ”

So what’s it like working with Warren Beatty, a notorious perfectionist? “I took the job knowing there would be difficulties, so knowing that, there weren’t many surprises,” said Elfman. “Once you deliver the score, the composer has no real control--that’s the aggravating and frustrating part of the profession. The only thing that really kept Beatty and me apart was ‘Batman.’ He was apprehensive having someone so closely associated with that movie working on ‘Tracy,’ and I was worried about repeating myself.

“Once we got that out of the way, we got along OK. Some of my cues got buried, but that happens a lot. I take it personally, but that’s because I get so wrapped up in my work.” He laughed. “Some people think it’s unhealthy, but I don’t know any other way to do it.”