"Who's That Girl?"
In 1986, Madonna was shooting for her third motion picture Who's That Girl, known at the time as Slammer. Needing songs for the soundtrack of the movie, she contacted Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, who had written and produced her third studio album True Blue with in 1986. Madonna explained to them that she needed an uptempo song and a downtempo song. She came to the studio one Thursday as Leonard developed the chorus of the song. He handed over that cassette to Madonna, who went to the backroom and finished the melody and the lyrics of the song, while Leonard worked on the other parts of the song

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"Causing A Commotion"
The song was inspired by her then husband Sean Penn and their often

tumultuous relationship. Madonna felt that her marriage to Penn was on

the verge of breaking-up, due to Penn's abusive and violent nature.

That translated as the inspiration behind the song. In a Rolling Stone

article dated September 10, 1987, Madonna spoke about Penn's impact

on her life,

"I don't like violence. I never condone hitting anyone, and

I never thought that any violence should have taken place. But on the

other hand, I understood Sean's anger and believe me, I have wanted

to hit them [the paparazzi] many times. I never would, you know,

because I realize that it would just make things worse."

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"The Look Of Love"
The downtempo song, developed and written the day after, "Who's That Girl" was written was "The Look of Love". Madonna later changed the film's name from Slammer to Who's That Girl, preferring the latter. Regarding the development of the songs for the film, Madonna further explained

"I had some very specific ideas in mind, music that would stand on its own as well as support and enhance what was happening on screen and the only way to make that a reality was to have a hand in writing the tunes myself. [...] The songs aren't necessarily about Nikki [her character name in the movie] or written to be sung by someone like her, but there's a spirit to this music that captures both what the film and the characters are about, I think."

Madonna was inspired by the look that actor James Stewart gave actress Grace Kelly in the 1954 film Rear Window. Madonna said: "I can't describe it, but that is the way I want someone to look at me when he loves me. It's the most pure look of love and adoration. Like surrender. It's devastating." "The Look of Love" was released as the third single from the soundtrack in the United Kingdom, some European countries and Japan. "I Know It", a track from Madonna's self-titled debut album, appeared as the B-side. In 1989, the song was used as the B-side for the "Express Yourself" single release.