Elsa Maxwell tells her fascinating life story, coming from a poor background, becoming a pianist, an accompanist to a vaudeville star, a song writer, a partner in two Paris nightclubs, a consultant to a dressmaker, a press agent for Monte Carlo, an actress in movies, radio, television and theatre, a script writer, a newspaper columnist, a contributor to magazines and a lecturer. But she is most well-known for her fabulous parties which attracted some of the most important people in the world.

Elsa Maxwell (May 24, 1883 – November 1, 1963) was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day.

Maxwell is credited with the introduction of the scavenger hunt and treasure hunt for use as party games in the modern era. Her radio program, Elsa Maxwell's Party Line, began in 1942; she also wrote a syndicated gossip column. She appeared as herself in the films Stage Door Canteen (1943) and Rhapsody in Blue (1945), as well as co-starring in the film Hotel for Women (1939), for which she wrote the screenplay and a song.