Queer As Art issue 2 April-May-June 2017 | Page 19

by Grace Richardson
Fortune and Men’s Eyes,
directed by Harvey Hart
Shakespeare’s work is malleable,
especially in the modern era. This can be
seen not only in literary adaptations of
his works, but also in theatre productions
and films based around his plays.
Fortune and Men’s Eyes, released in
1971, is a movie that takes advantage of
this malleability; it is fascinating in its
transformation of Shakespeare’s twenty
ninth sonnet into an exploration of the
prison system and queerness as it
existed in the twentieth century.
Fortune and Men’s Eyes, directed
by Harvey Hart, does not, however, solely
take inspiration from the Bard. John
Herbert originally wrote Fortune and
Men’s Eyes as a play based on his own
experience in a reformation center for
youth. More on this experience later.
Herbert faced a number of obstacles in
getting his play onto the stage – Canada,
where Herbert was based, seemed
reluctant to bring the controversy of
Fortune and Men’s Eyes onto their
theatre stages. However, the play
debuted in 1967, in America instead of
Canada, and eventually became a movie
in 1971.
Fortune and Men’s Eyes is rated R
and runs for an hour and forty two
minutes. The main character, Smitty, is
sent to prison after being arrested for
possession of marijuana. He shares a cell
with the drag queen, Queenie, her
companion, Mona, and the dark figure of
Rocky. There isn’t an excessive amount of
plot in the film – perhaps one of its
weaknesses – but it spends some time
exploring life in prison, relationships
between inmates, and presentations of
queerness as they existed in the West
during the late 60s and early 70s.
The relationships between the
characters make up for the drab
prison scenery. It’s important to look
at three, in particular: the
relationship between Rocky and
Smitty, the relationship between
Mona and Queenie, and the
relationship between Queenie and
the society she lives in.
To b e g i n , b o t h Q u e e n i e ’ s
relationship with Mona and Rocky’s
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