Plot
The story takes place at the fictional St Gregory Hotel in New Orleans, owned by Warren Trent.
The hotel is in serious financial trouble. Hotel manager Peter McDermott involves himself in proposals from three potential buyers: Curtis O'Keefe of O'Keefe's Hotels, a union that would protect current employees and could afford the repairs the old building needs so badly, and a developer who would demolish it and build a skyscraper. He also deals with a wide range of problems, including a faulty elevator.
O'Keefe, who intends to "modernize" the St. Gregory, visualizes a hotel of the future with conveyor belts everywhere. McDermott and O'Keefe's French mistress, Jeanne Rochefort, are immediately attracted to each other.
Among the guests at the hotel are the Duke and Duchess of Lanbourne, a wealthy British couple hiding out after fleeing from a hit and run accident in which the Duke killed a child. Dupere, the hotel detective, attempts to blackmail them. The Duchess asks him to drive their car to Washington, D.C., for $25,000 ($236,000 today), but he gets caught outside of the city.
Keycase, a professional thief, works the hotel using a range of techniques, including some female accomplices from strip clubs. In the beginning of the film, he picks up a key discarded in an ashtray at the airport. During the course of the film, he sneaks into rooms to steal the guests' money, but now that they can use credit cards, he finds that most carry very little cash.
Dr. Elmo Adams and his wife, a black couple, attempt to check in. The bigoted Trent tells the assistant manager filling in for McDermott (who has a rendezvous with Jeanne at his French Quarter apartment) to deny them accommodation. When McDermott finds out, he is furious. He traces them to another hotel and offers them their room. When he arrives to pick them up, they have vanished. The black desk clerk asks if they are “deseg”ing the St. Gregory. McDermott tells him to send him an application.
McDermott meets with the NAACP. The St. Gregory is not a target. They are pleased to learn that the bar is down, that Trent must live with it. But the union representative calls: An article about the Adamses in the (fictional) Washington Herald has killed their deal.
Trent brings McDermott along to hear O'Keefe's final offer. During the meeting, McDermott gets a call from the NAACP. Adams is an imposter, a bellhop who works for an O'Keefe Hotel, flown in to kill the union deal. McDermott exposes the lies behind the offer, adding that O'Keefe bribed him to convince Trent. Trent walks out on O'Keefe. He will sell to the developers.
The Duke calls the police, planning to turn himself in. Interrupted by a housekeeper in the Duke and Duchess' suite, Keycase grabs an attaché case and splits. In his room, he finds it is filled with the cash to pay off Dupere.
Keycase heads for the elevator, joined by the Duke and others. The elevator stops between floors: Emergency brakes begin to fail. McDermott and his assistant manager take the adjacent elevator to the same level and transfer passengers through the ceilings until the Duke and Keycase remain. Keycase refuses to leave the stolen money. The Duke wrestles the case away and helps Keycase out of the car; the brakes fail, sending the Duke to his death with the money.
The Duchess tells police she was responsible for the accident, hoping to save her late husband's reputation. She saves Dupere by confessing that she hired him to drive the car to Washington, D.C.: He knew nothing about the crime. The detectives do not press charges. Keycase is recognized and arrested.
The elevator crash triggers an exodus from the hotel, now facing certain closure. McDermott buys the remaining guests, including Jeanne, drinks on the house in a final toast to the St. Gregory.
