''Puttin' On the Ritz'' is a 1930 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
musical film directed by
Edward Sloman
Edward Sloman (19 July 1886, London - 29 September 1972, Woodland Hills, California) was an English silent film director, actor, screenwriter and radio broadcaster. He directed over 100 films and starred in over 30 films as an actor betwee ...
and starring
Harry Richman
Harry Richman (born Henry Reichman Jr.; August 10, 1895 – November 3, 1972) was an American singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and nightclub performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In his peak yea ...
,
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
, and
James Gleason
James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold."
Life and career
Gleason w ...
. The screenplay was written by Gleason and
William K. Wells based on a story by
John W. Considine Jr. It was the first of many films to feature the popular song "
Puttin' On the Ritz", which was written and published by
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
in 1929.
Cast
*
Harry Richman
Harry Richman (born Henry Reichman Jr.; August 10, 1895 – November 3, 1972) was an American singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and nightclub performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In his peak yea ...
as Harry Raymond
*
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
as Dolores Fenton
*
James Gleason
James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold."
Life and career
Gleason w ...
as James 'Jimmy' Tierney
*
Aileen Pringle as Mrs. Teddy Von Rennsler
*
Lilyan Tashman
Lilyan Tashman (October 23, 1896 – March 21, 1934) was an American actress. Tashman was best known for her supporting roles as tongue-in-cheek villainesses or playing the vindictive "other woman". She made 66 films over the course of her ...
as Goldie Devere
*
Purnell Pratt
Purnell Pratt (October 20, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.
Partial filmography
* ''The Great ...
as George Barnes
*
Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker (August 28, 1913January 8, 1975) was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States.
Early life
Tucker was born Rivn (Rubin) Ticke ...
as Fenway Brooks
*
Eddie Kane
Eddie Kane (August 12, 1889 – April 30, 1969) was an American actor who appeared in over 250 productions from 1928 to 1959.
Biography
Kane was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His early career was in vaudeville as a member of the two-man te ...
as Bob Wagner
*
George Irving as Dr. Blair
*
Sidney Franklin as Schmidt
Preservation
All current prints derive from a 1940s re-release print that was censored for
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
content and cut down by about twenty minutes. The title cards at the start and end of the film have also been edited and altered. ''Puttin' On the Ritz'' was originally shot with two-color
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
sequences, but today those sequences partially survive only in black and white.
See also
*
List of early color feature films
This is a list of early feature-length color films (including primarily black-and-white films that have one or more color sequences) made up to about 1936, when the Technicolor three-strip process firmly established itself as the major-studio f ...
External links
*
*
1930 films
1930s musical drama films
1930s color films
American musical drama films
Films scored by Irving Berlin
Films directed by Edward Sloman
United Artists films
1930 drama films
1930s American films
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