Puttin' on the Ritz
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"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a popular song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin. The title derives from the slang expression "putting on the Ritz", meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the swanky Ritz Hotel. The song gives Gary Cooper as an example of someone who puts on the ritz.
The original version of Berlin's song referred to the then-popular fad of well-to-do white New Yorkers visiting African American jazz music venues in Harlem. Berlin later revised the lyrics to be more generally applicable to going out on the town in style.
Hit phonograph records of the tune in its original popularity of 1929-1930 were recorded by Harry Richman and Fred Astaire.
This tune has enjoyed a number of revivals including a hit swing music version by Benny Goodman, being sung and danced to by Fred Astaire in the 1946 film Blue Skies, being memorably and humorously used in the 1974 film Young Frankenstein, and returning to the hit parade again with a version by Taco Ockerse recorded in 1982. Also in 1939, in Idiot's Delight, Clark Gable did a classic routine, surprising everyone with his corny routine. It was the theme to Steve Martin's character's transformation into a "sophisticated" con artist at the hands of Michael Caine in the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was also referenced in an episode of the TV Show Family Guy with a duet between Stewie Griffin and his mind-controlled brother Chris.
1930 movie
The first of many movies to feature the number was the 1930 film entitled Puttin' on the Ritz. The musical film was directed by Edward Sloman and starred Harry Richman, Joan Bennett, and James Gleason.External links
- [IMDB entry for the 1930 film]
- [Lyrics from Taco's rendition of Puttin' on the Ritz]
- [Puttin' on the Ritz] Slang origins by word researcher Barry Popik.
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