Fine Feathers (play)

Fine Feathers is a 1912 drama in four acts by Eugene Walter.

The play started as a scenario by Walter Hackett called "C.O.D.". Hackett, behind by $3,000 on his board bill at the Hotel Algonquin, negotiated with Frank M. Case, then owner of the Algonquin, to settle his account in exchange for twenty-five percent of all royalties on "C.O.D.". Hackett had learned his lesson, when 4 years earlier he landed in jail after trying to pay his hotel bill at the Castleton in Staten Island with forged checks. Eugene Walter was then called to whip the play into shape for production.

First produced for the stage as Fads and Frills by Charles Dillingham in 1910, it was abandoned as a failure after a three-week run.Sam Shubert and Lee Shubert thereafter produced the play as Homeward Bound. It premiered in New York on January 28, 1911 at the Daly's Theatre and subsequently went on tour, but was losing money and further performances were suspended. On March 27, 1911 the New York Daily Tribune announced that the Shuberts were preparing to make another production of Homeward Bound, this time starring Margaret Illington.The New York Clipper wrote that Walter had changed the title of his play again, to Who's to Blame?. Whether it was true or a subtle April Fool's joke (it was published April 1), the new title for the third rewrite of the play was Mrs. Maxwell's Mistake. It was anticipated to premiere April 17, 1911 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre but was rescheduled at the last minute for the following week; it ended up premiering at the Park Theatre in Bridgeport CT for one show on April 20. It finally made its Broadway debut on April 24 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre, but was again a commercial failure.

After three unsuccessful attempts as a comedy, Eugene Walter decided sometime after May 1911 to rewrite the play as a drama.

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