Puttin' On the Ritz
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Dressed up like a million-dollar trooper --"Puttin' On the Ritz" (1929) by Irving Berlin |
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"Puttin' On the Ritz" is a song written by Irving Berlin. He wrote it in May 1927 and first published it on December 2, 1929.
An instant standard with one of Berlin's most "intricately syncopated choruses", this song is associated with Fred Astaire, who sang and danced to it in the 1946 film Blue Skies. The song was written in 1928 with a separate set of lyrics and was introduced by Harry Richman in a 1930 film of the same name. In 1939, Clark Gable sang it in the movie Idiot's Delight. In 1974 it was featured in the movie Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks, and was a no. 4 hit for synth-pop artist Taco in 1983. In 2012 it was used for a flash mob wedding event in Moscow.
See also
- Puttin' On the Ritz, a 1930 musical film directed by Edward Sloman, featuring the song
- Young Frankenstein, a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks in which the song becomes the basis of a musical dance number featuring Frederick Frankenstein and the Monster