"Puttin' On the Ritz" is a song written by Irving Berlin.

He wrote it in May 192

7 and first published it in December 2, 1929.[1] It was registered as an unpubli
shed song August 24, 1927 and again on July 27, 1928.[1] It was introduced by Ha
rry Richman and chorus in the musical film Puttin' On the Ritz (1930). According
to The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, this was the first song in film to be
sung by an interracial ensemble.[1] The title derives from the slang expression
"putting on the Ritz," meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was ins
pired by the opulent Ritz Hotel.
The song is in AABA form, with a verse.[2] According to John Mueller, the centra
l device in the A section is the "use of delayed rhythmic resolution: a staggeri
ng, off-balance passage, emphasized by the unorthodox stresses in the lyric, sud
denly resolves satisfyingly on a held note, followed by the forceful assertion o
f the title phrase." The marchlike B section, which is only barely syncopated, a
cts as a contrast to the previous rhythmic complexities.[2] According to Alec Wi
lder, in his study of American popular song, the rhythmic pattern in "Puttin' On
the Ritz" is "the most complex and provocative I have ever come upon."[3]