Fortune and Men's Eyes (1971)

The young, naive Smitty is sent to prison for six months; Cathy, his girlfriend, watches as he disappears behind the bars and barbed wire. He's assigned a cell with Queenie, a balls-out ... See full summary »

Director:

Harvey Hart

Writers:

John Herbert (play), John Herbert (screenplay)

Stars:

Wendell Burton, Michael Greer, Zooey Hall

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wendell Burton	...	Smitty
Michael Greer	...	Queenie
Zooey Hall	...	Rocky
Danny Freedman	...	Mona
Larry Perkins	...	Screwdriver
James Barron	...	Holy Face Peters
Lázaro Pérez	...	Catso
Jon Granik	...	Sgt. Gritt
Tom Harvey	...	Warden Gasher
Hugh Webster	...	Rabbit
Kirk McColl	...	Guard Sullivan
Vance Davis	...	Sailor
Robert Goodier	...	Doctor
Cathy Wiehl	...	Cathy
Georges Allard	...	Fiddler

Storyline

The young, naive Smitty is sent to prison for six months; Cathy, his girlfriend, watches as he disappears behind the bars and barbed wire. He's assigned a cell with Queenie, a balls-out drag queen, Rocky, a quiet but cocky con, and Mona, a young gay man who ministers to Rocky. Smitty watches in horror as gangs of inmates brutalize prisoners who lack protection. Those who complain risk beatings or murder at the hands of unsympathetic guards: all cries are bootless. Mona offers poetry - Shakespeare's sonnet XXIX; Queenie and Rocky offer Smitty advice, and Rocky offers protection for a price. Smitty's choices and their consequences are the film's main subjects.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | inmate | beating | sonnet | gay | 

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Taglines:

What goes on in prison is a crime.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aux yeux du sort et des humains

Filming Locations:

Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 1,109,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Title is taken from a Shakespearean poem entitled "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes".

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Connections

Referenced in Come of Age (1971)

User Reviews

One of the most shocking film of 1971!

Smitty (Burton) goes to prison and realize that it place where inmates set each other up, and also a place where there is no women, so a weak prisoners are forced to be sex slaves for tougher prisoners. He shares a cell with a drag queen name Queenie (Greer) and a tough Christian Slater type name Rocky (Hall). Smitty becomes friends with Rocky, not knowing that Rocky wants Smitty to be his lover. Crisp dialogue, well edited scenes, make this film very shocking for 1971. Hall is a standout as Rocky and gives a very icey performance that makes me wonder why he didn't become a big star playing villians in films (only other big work he did was 99 44/100% DEAD in 1974). Burton and Greer is also good, as Burton does a fine job projecting a innocent kid who keep looking at his picture of his girlfriend, knowing life isn't going to be same. Canadian actor Danny Freedman is also effective at the end scene that is another shocker. Don't see this film if you are offended or scared of the subject. But I think it's one of the best film of the 70's. Highly Recommended.