The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, motion-picture musical spoof about a straight-laced, newly engaged couple who seek shelter in a storm at an old castle and meet many unusual characters, based on the 1973 stage musical by Richard O’Brien. Released in 1975, this film achieved notoriety for its long-running success as a midnight feature and for its loyal fan base. Fans of the film often dress up as the various characters in the film and act out the story in the theater as the film plays above them while other audience members yell out wisecracks at the screen. Brad Majors and his fiancée, Janet Weiss (played by Susan Sarandon), seek shelter at the castle of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite who happens to be having a big party. It soon becomes clear that the household not only contains monsters, a motorcycle-riding thug, an evil, incestuous butler, and a host of violent weirdoes, but that the whole lot of them are from the planet Transsexual, found in the galaxy of Transylvania. Ultimately, Furter succeeds in getting Majors and Weiss to loosen their grip on their socially conservative ideology. This film features the songs “The Time Warp,” “Whatever Happened to Saturday Night,” “Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me,” and many others.

Director

• Jim Sharman

Cast

• Tim Curry (Dr. Frank N. Furter)
• Susan Sarandon (Janet Weiss)
• Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors)
• Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff)
• Jonathan Adams (Dr. Everett Scott)
• Nell Campbell (Columbia)
• Peter Hinwood (Rocky)
• Pat Quinn (Magenta)
• Meatloaf (Eddie)
• Charles Gray (Criminologist)
• Jeremy Newson (Ralph Hapschatt)
• Hilary Labow (Betty Munroe)
• Frank Lester (Wedding dad)
• Mark Johnson (Wedding guest)
• Koo Stark (Bridesmaid)
• Petra Leah (Bridesmaid)
• Gina Barrie (Bridesmaid)
• John Marquand (Father)

Trivia

• The scene where narrator Dr. Scott crashes through a wall was improvised because the carpenters forgot to put an extra door in the lab set.
• The film’s crew had an Easter egg hunt on set during production, and three unfound eggs can be seen on film. One lies under Frank's throne, one sits where a light should in the main room, and one can be seen in the elevator to the lab.
• Actor Meat Loaf went on to record an album in 1977, Bat Out of Hell, which contained the hit songs “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” and “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad,” among others.

Quotes

• Magenta (singing): “With a bit of a mind flip / you're into a time slip / and nothing can ever be the same. / You're spaced out on sensation / like you're under sedation. / Let's do the time warp again.”