Puttin’ on the Ritz
"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a popular song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz (1930). 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 included references to the then-popular fad of well-dressed but poor black Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue. Berlin later revised the lyrics to apply to affluent whites strutting "up and down Park Avenue".[1] Other lyric changes included:
Original: Spangled gowns upon the bevy of high browns from down the levee, all misfits
Revised: Different types who wear a day coat, pants with stripes and cut away coat, perfect fits
Original: That's where each and ev'ry Lulu-Belle goes, ev'ry Thursday evening with her swell beaus
Revised: Dressed up like a million dollar trouper, trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Original: Come with me and we'll attend the jubilee, and see them spend their last two bits
Revised: Come, let's mix where Rockerfellers walk with sticks, or umber-ellas In their mitts
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
- A classic routine by Clark Gable in 1939's Idiot's Delight
- A song and dance number performed by Fred Astaire in the 1946 film Blue Skies using the revised lyrics
- A memorable and humorous version (performed by Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle) used in Mel Brooks' 1974 film Young Frankenstein
- A return to the hit parade with a New Wave version by Taco Ockerse recorded in 1982, reaching #4 on the American Billboard's Pop Chart. This version was ranked #79 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders.
- 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
- A Family Guy episode spoofed the Young Frankenstein rendition, with a duet between Stewie Griffin and his mind-controlled brother Chris, at the very end of which Stewie stated, "Not my bit, but still funny!"
- Wooster performs Berlin's song to Jeeves, blundering over the syncopation in the chorus line, in the episode of Jeeves and Wooster titled "Bridegroom Wanted!"
- The melody line is used loosely in the track "The Writz" by The Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious fame) on the 2004 album 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up
- The infamous Swedish band Onkel Kånkel recorded their version as Puttin On The Fritz.
- A rendition by the world-renowned a cappella group The Harvard Din & Tonics.Vorlage:Fact
- Shiny Toy Guns recorded a cover of the song, closer to the style of the version by Taco Ockerse.
- Ella Fitzgerald recorded a version for her 1958 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook.
1930 movie
The first of many movies to feature the number was the 1930 film titled Puttin' on the Ritz. The musical film was directed by Edward Sloman and starred Harry Richman, Joan Bennett, and James Gleason.
Trivia
- The song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" was based on the music of the 1930 film. Vorlage:Fact
External links
References
- ↑ John Mueller: Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films of Fred Astaire, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1986. ISBN 0-241-11749-6, p.267: "In the original version it told of the ritzy airs of Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue. For the 1946 film, the strutters became well-to-do whites on Park Avenue. The patronizing, yet admiring satire of the song is shifted, then, and mellowed in the process. The change may have had to do with changing attitudes towards race and with Hollywood's dawning wariness about offending blacks."