Fortune and Men's Eyes

Theme of homosexuality and rape in prison was very daring for its time (1971). You could feel the pain of the lead character as he succumbs to the brutal advances of his cellmate, while longing for his girlfriend.

I saw the movie when it first came out, and I still remember the line uttered by a prisoner as he observes a gang rape- "Nobody's going to stop a man from getting his oats." It's one of my all-time favorite quotes from films.

I own Fortune And Men's Eyes and I must say it is a terrific movie.After renting it several times I decided to buy it,and I'm very happy that I did.Smitty(Wendell Burton)is sentenced to six months in prison for smoking pot.While he is in prison he learns what it takes to stay alive.Michael Greer plays Queenie,a drag queen that shares the same cell with Smitty,along with two other homosexuals,Rocky and Mona.I have seen Michael Greer in two other movies,The Gay Decievers(which I also own)and The Rose.It was great to see him without a wig for a change!I think Michael is a great actor.Doing the math from the year he was born,1943,he must be in his fifties now.Rocky is actually the bad guy in the film.He tries to force Smitty into being his lover,and eventually Smitty has to fight back to protect himself.The movie based on homosexuality in prison.Made in 1971,four years before I was born,it is a great classic,maybe not so well known but for sure a great movie.If you have'nt seen it do see it,take my word for it,you will not be disappointed!

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.

I saw some friends talking about this film on the internet, and decided to see if I could find it anywhere. It's not available at all on DVD, but my state library system does have it on VHS tape. I have no VHS tape player, as I got rid of it years ago. BUT, someone mentioned that it's available online. free.. The resolution isn't very good, but it's watchable!

Cold, grainy picture made in Canada follows naïve drug-user (Wendell Burton, excellent here as he was in "The Sterile Cuckoo") through rigors of prison life. Adapted from John Herbert's autobiographical play, originally performed in Los Angeles with Sal Mineo as producer, the movie is a curiosity piece, what with a sadly outré drag show and the usual homosexual content handled in somewhat sensational manner. Reportedly a troubled production, it is occasionally gripping and intense, yet impossibly downbeat. Several of the key supporting players are very good, and the narrative and scenario are more solid here than in the not-dissimilar "Short Eyes". ** from ****