This is a glorified B film from the folks at 20th Century Fox. It contains elements of romance and comedy, but is more known for its ensemble cast of Fox starlets, several of them going on to long and distinguished Hollywood careers. Among the women who check into the titular dwelling are Ann Sothern. Jean Rogers, Lynn Bari and Linda Darnell in her motion picture debut.
Darnell has the most screen time though she is billed after Sothern. Behind-the-scenes drama played out when Sothern, who’d just finished a contract at RKO, decided not to sign a long-term deal with Fox. She instead chose to sign with MGM, where a few scripts meant for the late Jean Harlow would be given to her. As a result of bailing on Fox, Sothern still retained top billing but her part was drastically cut in the editing room.
In lieu of Sothern’s decreased prominence, Darnell’s part was beefed up. Sothern & Darnell would reunite on screen ten years later as two of the wronged wives in A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, also for Fox. Apparently Sothern was able to mend fences with studio execs, and she had remained friendly with Darnell. The later film is more well-known, while HOTEL FOR WOMEN has slipped into obscurity.
Darnell was only 15 years old when she stepped before the cameras to shoot her first scenes in HOTEL FOR WOMEN. Publicists lied about her age and initially made her seem older than she actually was. After all, she was supposed to be playing a woman, not a teen girl in this film. The basic scenario was embellished by society maven Elsa Maxwell who was hired to add ‘realistic’ touches about young gals staying at a posh New York hotel.
Maxwell was a closeted lesbian who had a long-time female partner but never acknowledged their relationship in public. Despite being from a poor midwestern background, she had become a cosmopolitan sensation. She wielded great influence because of her powerful connections, often hobnobbing with prominent politicians and royalty. She was known for throwing lavish parties and writing a gossip column. In the 1940s she had her own radio show.
In order to give this picture increased value with contemporary audiences, Fox developed a supporting role for the doyenne and renamed it ELSA MAXWELL’S HOTEL FOR WOMEN. This was also a ploy to prevent a New York-based actress and part-time playwright known as Louise Howard from winning a suit against the studio for plagiarism. Miss Howard, who’d worked in burlesque as Halo Meadows, had authored a play called Women’s Hotel which the court ruled had been pilfered for this production. What ended up on screen wasn’t half as interesting as what went on behind the scenes.
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