by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
The Hotel Copacabana is about to host members of the tobacco industry for a convention of some sort. It is unclear why they have chosen this particular ill-managed and slightly run-down hotel. Perhaps the odd scientific studies by the hotel's owner, which seek to prove that tobacco is harmless, are the reasons for the choice. Shortly before the convention is to begin, Isabel Purvis (Mabel Seldes), a rather starchy and quite suspicious tobacco industry p.r. representative checks into the hotel to make sure that all the necessary arrangments for the convention have been made. The bumbling management and incompetent hotel staff make her stay a memorable one.
