Fortune and Men's Eyes is a 1967 play and 1971 film written by John Herbert about a young man's experience in prison, exploring themes of homosexuality and sexual slavery.

His cellmates are Rocky, a "dangerous and unpredictable" 19-year-old serving time for stealing a car from his male lover; Mona, an 18- or 19-year-old who is sentenced for making a homosexual pass at a group of boys; and Queenie, a flamboyant homosexual serving time for robbing an old woman.

Queenie, who has friends amongst the "politicians" of the prison, informs him of what to expect, and warns that Mona has been gang-raped because he did not have an "old man" looking out for him.

Smitty becomes upset, but Mona comforts him with Shakespeare's poem When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes.

[1] The title of the play comes from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, which begins with the line, "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes...".

[8] Herbert sent a copy of Fortune and Men's Eyes to renowned Canadian theatre critic Nathan Cohen, who replied, "I hope you understand that there's not a chance in the world of this getting a professional production in Canada.

[8] The play, produced by Rothenberg, premiered off-Broadway in New York City at the Actors Playhouse from February 23, 1967, to January 1968.

Reviewer Herbert Whittaker wrote in The Globe and Mail that the play was "the art of washing our dirty linen in the neighbor's yard.

"[8] Cohen wrote in the Toronto Star that the play "lifts the carpet and shows what is underneath"; he added that it "asks deeply disturbing questions about long-established personal and social assumptions.

[13] Directed by Harvey Hart, it starred Wendell Burton as Smitty, Michael Greer as Queenie, Danny Freedman as Mona, Hugh Webster as Rabbit and Zooey Hall as Rocky.