The Rocky Horror Picture Show is an odd blend of sci-fi/horror spoof and musical, with references to everything from Forbidden Planet to Lili St. Cyr. It centres on a betrothed couple, Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) who had a flat tyre on the way to visit their high school science teacher Dr. Scott (Jonathan Adams) following a wedding. They go looking for a telephone and find themselves at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), where Brad and Janet encounter such unusual characters s Frank-N-Furter's servants Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien) and his sister Magenta (Patrica Quinn, Lady Stephens).
The origins of The Rocky Horror Picture Show go back to the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show. Richard O'Brien had been a stunt performer in such movies as Carry on Cowboy (1965) and Casino Royale (1967). Unemployed in the early Seventies, he began work on a stage show. A fan of science fiction and B-movies since he was very young, he wanted his stage show to blend science fiction, classic horror films, B-movies, the Steve Reeves sword and sandal movies, and 1950s rock' 'n' roll movies. Transvestism would play a role in the stage play, although Richard O' Brien didn't mean for it to be as noticeable as it was in the end.
It was during the summer of 1972 that Richard O'Brien met director Jim Sharman. Mr. Sharman cast Mr. O'Brien as an Apostle and a leper in a London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. He later cast him as the alien Willie in a production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. Richard O'Brien showed Jim a portion of his script for what was then called They Came from Denton High. It was Jim Sharman who suggested that it be renamed The Rocky Horror Show.
The Rocky Horror Show premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs on June 19, 1972, and ran until July 20, 1973. The original stage play included actors who would appear in the movie, including Tim Curry and Nell Campbell (billed as Little Nell). Following its run at the Royal Court Upstairs, the production moved to the Chelsea Classic Cinema, then the King's Road Theatre, and then the Comedy Theatre.
It was in the winter of 1973 that record producer and movie producer Lou Adler attended a performance of The Rocky Horror Show in London along with his friend Britt Ekland. He bought the American theatrical rights, and as a result, The Rocky Horror Show made its American premiere at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. It was in August 1974 that the movie rights to The Rocky Horror Show were bought by 20th Century Fox.
Filming began on The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) on October 21, 1974 and continued for eight weeks. It was shot at Bray Studios, where many Hammer Film Productions were shot. The country house Oakley Court doubled as Frank-N-Furter's castle. Hammer had a long history of using Oakley Court as a location. They had used it as far back as 1950 on such films as The Man in Black and The Lady Craved Excitement. It was used in several Hammer Horrors, including The Brides of Dracula (1962), The Old Dark House (1963), and The Plague of the Zombies (1966) Post-production was done at Elstree Studios, which had also seen its share of Hammer movies. Of course, along with the Universal monster movies and American B-movies, the classic Hammer films provided part of the inspiration for the original Rocky Horror Show.
Changes were made to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) from The Rocky Horror Show. The character of the Usherette in The Rocky Horror Show was entirely eliminated in the movie. "The Charles Atlas Song" from The Rocky Horror Show was reworked as "I Can Make You a Man" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). In the original West End and Los Angeles productions of The Rocky Horror Show, "Sweet Transvestite" came before "The Time Warp." This was changed for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), so that "The Time Warp" came first.
For the most part, roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show were filled with actors from stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show. Tim Curry originated the role of Frank-N-Furter in the very first 1973 production. Richard O'Brien had also originated the role of Riff-Raff. Patricia Quinn played the roles of the Usherette and Magenta in the original production, while Nell Campbell originated the role of Columbia. For the movie, the role of the Criminologist was filled by Charles Gray, who had appeared in the Hammer film The Devil Rides Out (1968) and played Blofeld in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971). 20th Century Fox insisted that two Americans be cast as Brad and Janet. The roles were filled by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon. At the time, Barry Bostwick may have been best known for playing Danny Zucco in the stage production of Grease, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Susan Sarandon had appeared in such films as The Apprentice (1971) and The Front Page (1974).
Filming The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was not always pleasant for the cast. Oakley Court was both cold and damp, a situation complicated by the fact that the movie was shot in the autumn and the cast often wore scanty clothing. The pool scene towards the end presented an unusual problem with regards to Tim Curry's makeup According to Peter Robb-King make-up artist on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in a post on Tim Curry's official Instagram, "The water enhances the make-up and sets it even more." Tim Curry would then come out of the pool looking better than they wanted him to. Susan Sarandon, who spent much of the film in flimsy underwear, caught pneumonia while filming continued on the movie.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) opened at the Rialto Theatre in London on August 15, 1975. It was on September 26, 1975, that The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened a the UA Westwood Theatre in Los Angeles. A week later it expanded to seven other cities in the United States. While The Rocky Horror Picture Show did very well in Los Angeles, it did poorly in the seven other cities. Indeed, its planned opening in New York City, slated for Halloween (October 31), was even cancelled.
In October 1976, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was paired with the aforementioned Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and released to college campuses. Unfortunately, it did no better at the box office. Here it must be pointed out that Phantom of the Paradise (1974) similarly failed at the box office upon its initial release.
What saved The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was the growing phenomenon of midnight movies. El Topo (1970), Pink Flamingos (1972), and even such older movies as Reefer Madness (1936--originally titled Tell Your Children) were doing very well as midnight movies. Looking to the success of such movies as Pink Flamingos (1972), young 20th Century Fox marketing executive Tim Deegan believed The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) could be a success as a midnight movie. He began talking to theatres across the United States about midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
He finally convinced the Waverly Theatre in New York City to show The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as a midnight movie. They started doing so on April 1, 1976. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) proved to be a success at the Wavelry, so much so that the film was soon being screened at midnight in such cities as Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle, and elsewhere. In March 1976, the Varsity Theatre in St. Louis began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) as its main feature for three weeks, then the theatre brought it back as a midnight movie on weekends.
Of course, audience participation has long been a part of screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Reportedly, at its original run at the UA Westwood in Los Angeles, the audience would sing along with the songs. Responding to the characters on the screen developed after the Waverly in New York City began showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a midnight movie. Louis Farese, Jr., Theresa Krakauskas, and Amy Lazarus, who went to see the film regularly at the Waverly, are credited with introducing talking back to the screen, as well as even incorporating props. This practice would spread to other theatres and eventually the responses to the screen would become ritualized, with specific responses made to specific scenes. Extemporisation was discouraged. It was by Halloween 1976 that people began going to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1976) dressed in costume.
Eventually, audience participation would go beyond calling back to the screen, as audience members would essentially reenact the movie in front of the screen, complete with sets and even props. The first shadowcast, as the performers who reenact The Rocky Horror Picture Show at screenings of the movie are called, was started by Michael Wolfson in 1977. It began in the autumn of 1977 at the Fox Venice Theatre in Los Angeles. Like the callbacks to the film, shadowcasts would eventually spread to other cities.
It was before The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) became a cult film that a major change was made to prints of the film shown in the United States. Producer Lou Adler visited various theatres to research audience reaction to the film. He thought the movie's original ending was too downbeat and so he had the song "Super Heroes," performed at the end of the film, significantly shortened, and had the more upbeat 'Time Warp" play over the closing credits. The full version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show did not completely disappear from the United States. It was shown for three weeks at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles. It would also pop up on various cable channels, such as HBO. The full version of the film would surface in theatres in the early Eighties. It would also appear on VHS and later on DVD.
The success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) would lead Richard O'Brien to write a sequel in 1979. Neither Jim Sharman nor Tim Curry wanted to participate in the project. Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien then made Shock Treatment (1981), another film featuring Brad and Janet (this time played by Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper). Over the years, Richard O'Brien made other attempts at a direct sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but none ever got off the ground.
Today The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) remains popular. Fifty years after its release in the United States, it is still playing at American theatres. At the same time, it has a somewhat complicated legacy. Many of the early fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) came from the LGBTQ community. For many, the movie worked as a celebration of queer identity and sexual liberation. One has to suspect that for many LGBTQ youth in the Seventies and Eighties, the midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show were one of the first times they could be themselves.
That having been said, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is very much a product of its times and as a result, it is dated. The movie conflates the terms transsexual and transvestite, the latter term now considered offensive for many. There are those who find the character of Frank-N-Furter problematic, seeing him as a poor representation of trans individuals. Indeed, sexual coercion plays a role in the plot, something that makes for uncomfortable viewing even for some supporters of the film. Of course, in the end, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is very much a product of the 1970s, and a good deal has changed since then.
While there are those who find The Rocky Horror Picture Show problematic, for many others it remains a celebration of both self-expression and queer identity. Indeed, many may see the movie as so campy and so ridiculous that in many ways it is hard to take seriously. Regardless, fifty years after its release, not only is it still popular, but it is still playing in theatres. It seems possible it might still be playing in theatres fifty years from now.
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