Trivia for
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) More at IMDbPro »

• In the opening wedding scene, the minister is Tim Curry (Dr. Frank N. Furter), the "old man" to his left is Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff) and the "wife" to his right is Patricia Quinn (Magenta). The spinster who joins them inside the church is Nell Campbell, a.k.a. Little Nell (Columbia). They are parodying the famous American Gothic painting, which appears later on in the castle.
  
  
• Dr. Frank N Furter's tattoo on his upper right arm reads "BOSS."
  
  
• Mick Jagger wanted to play Dr. Frank N. Furter in the film version.
  
  
• Oakley Court, Dr. Frank N. Furter's "castle", was used in numerous Hammer horror films made at adjacent Bray Studios (where the lab and ballroom scenes were shot), including The House in Nightmare Park (1973), The Reptile (1966), The Brides of Dracula (1960) and Man in Black (1949). Built in 1859, it was refurbished in 1981 and made into a hotel, where rooms cost from 150 to 195 British pounds per night.
  
  
• Aside from the chemical symbols scrawled on the lab wall next to the control panel, there is a grocery list calling for flour, eggs, bread, sugar and two hypodermics.
  
  
• The movie was banned in South Africa several weeks after release by the Board of Censors, but not before it had been seen by some 250,000 viewers and had a strong cult following.
  
  
• The opening number, "Science Fiction Double Feature", contains references to many classic science fiction films. In the script, the credits were to be shown between clips of the films. Production designer Brian Thomson disliked the idea, and suggested using a pair of disembodied lips to mouth the words, inspired by a Man Ray painting.
  
  
• An extended final number appears in some American prints and the British tape release.
  
  
• The set builders forgot to put an extra door in the lab set, thus Dr. Scott had to crash through the wall for his entrance.
  
  
• Cameo: [Petra Leah] bridesmaid
  
  
• Cameo: [Gina Barrie] bridesmaid
  
  
• A stunt double was used in the motorcycle scenes except for the close-ups; Meat Loaf was pushed in a wheelchair for those scenes.
  
  
• Peter Hinwood couldn't sing, and during the soundtrack sessions a session singer was used for Rocky Horror's part. Hinwood mimed the vocals during filming. In post-production, Jim Sharman wanted to change Rocky Horror's voice, and hired Australian actor/singer Trevor White to dub the final vocals for the film. White was interviewed for the 2002 book "Rocky Horror: From Concept to Cult."
  
  
• The film was originally recorded in mono. When 20th Century-Fox finally decided to release it to home video in 1990, the songs in the film were re-dubbed using the stereo versions from the soundtrack release (a session singer was used in the studio version for Rocky's vocals; Trevor White re-dubbed them for the film). Rocky's vocals are different on "Rose Tint My World," and other subtle differences are noticeable to fans who have seen the theatrical release repeatedly, especially because the words didn't match to the mouths of the actors. The original English mono sound was used as an option for the 2000 DVD release (with Trevor White as the voice of Rocky Horror on all songs), along with an English 5.1 Surround mix (using the mono sound and White's vocals) and a commentary track by Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn.
  
  
• The studio originally offered a much larger budget to Jim Sharman for the film, on the condition that he cast popular musicians of the day. Sharman insisted upon using the original cast, so as a compromise, he accepted a much smaller budget and agreed to cast American actors in the roles of Brad and Janet. Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell created their roles in the original stage production. Jonathan Adams appeared in the original cast as well, playing the role of the Narrator. Meat Loaf had played role of Eddie in the original Los Angeles stage production.
  
  
• Steve Martin auditioned for the role of Brad.
  
  
• At the end of "The Floor Show" scene when Riff Raff appears again, Susan Sarandon is backing up with Barry Bostwick and spikes his foot with her stiletto heel. His grimace and slight stumble can be seen in the film.
  
  
• Most of the actors weren't told of the prop corpse of Eddie under the dining room tablecloth. When it was revealed during filming, their looks of horror are geniune.
  
  
• When the film first opened, it had a traditional release, playing afternoon and early evening screenings. It bombed. Meat Loaf said he attended an opening week performance with director Jim Sharman in the Midwest where the theater was empty except for them. In the mid-1970s, midnight screenings became popular and word of mouth began to spread that the midnight audience might enjoy this film. It began showing at midnight in a few cities and it became popular, to the point that it has been shown continually in movie theaters since 1975, making it the longest theatrical run in history. The the Museum Lichtspiele cinema in Muenchen, Germany has been screened the movie every week since 24 June 1977, offering special "RHPS-Kits" to enable celebrations during the show. They contain: a biscuit (for the toast), rice, a whistle, a candle (for "There's a light") and a sheet of paper with instructions for the time warp.
  
  
• One night, during a typical midnight screening at a New York theater, a patron was asked to leave before the film ended. This patron was accused of being an impostor. The patron was Tim Curry.
  
  
• The tank and dummy used in the "creation" scene are from Hammer Films' The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).
  
  
• At the midnight showings, not only do patrons dress up, they bring props. There are no hard-and-fast rules on props, but the following is a list of some of the most common: Rice (to be thrown at Ralph and Betty's wedding) Water pistols (back row squirts them during rain scene) - Newspapers (for front and middle rows to shield themselves from rain) - Flashlights or cigarette lighters ("There's a Light" verse of "Over at Frankenstein Place") - Rubber gloves (during and after the creation speech, Frank snaps his gloves three times) - Noisemakers (the Transylvanians applaud Frank's creation - so should you) - Toilet paper [preferably "Scott's" brand] (when Brad yells "Great scott!", throw a roll) - Confetti (at the end of the "Charles Atlas" reprise, the Transylvanians throw confetti) - Toast (when Frank proposes a toast at dinner) - Party hat (when Frank puts on his hat to wish Rocky happy birthday, so does the audience) - Bell ("When we made it/did you hear a bell ring?") - Cards ("Cards for sorrow/cards for pain") - The props tend to vary somewhat from city to city, especially as some localities (and theaters) impose restrictions. For example, the "There's a light" prop was almost always lighters during the original 1970s shows, but open flames are now banned in most movie theaters (either by theater policy or by law - and considering that another common prop is newspapers, this is generally a good idea). Another example is that some fans insist that the toast should be buttered. However, many theaters frown on this, due to the mess (and the possibility of someone slipping).
  
  
• The film was originally intended to be shown in black and white until Frank's entrance, and then only his lips would be in color: the rest would still be in black and white, up until the end of Sweet Transvestite, at which point it would go immediately to color, and then it was supposed to stay in color up until the Superheroes song. 20th Century Fox included a similar cut as an Easter Egg on the 25th Anniversary DVD of the film, but it was slightly different from what was specified in the original screenplay: it was black and white up until Riff Raff opens the door revealing the Transylvanians, at which point, it cut immediately to the color film. Many fans considered this to be lazy, pointing out that the original intended effect could have easily been achieved via colorization techniques.
  
  
• Just before we see Frank carving up Eddie for the big birthday feast for Rocky's birthday, the Criminologist speaks for a while. His book is opened to display Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper".
  
  
• According to interviews, Patricia Quinn (Magenta) only took the role in the play because she loved the opening song "Science Fiction - Double Feature." She was upset when she didn't get to sing the song in the film, but agreed to lip-sync the words as the pair of red lips in the beginning with vocals by Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff)
  
  
• Tim Curry's feature film debut.
  
  
• The set had no heat and no bathrooms during the filming. When Susan Sarandon requested that to the studio heads, they told her she was complaining too much. She soon caught pneumonia after filming the pool scene.
  
  
• Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick were the only Americans in lead roles in the movie.
  
  
• The movie is full of symbols of classic movie companies: The shield the griffin holds represents Warner Brothers; the eagle in the hall represents Republic; the lightning bolt on the flag represents the old RKO symbol, (the radio tower at the end is also RKO); the character 'Columbia' represents not only the movie company of the same name, but the symbol herself, complete with short hair; the large 'Atlas' illuminated painting in the grand bed-chamber is the symbol of Amicus pictures; the large snarling cat in the hall is an MGM lion reference; the lighted globe at the end is the symbol of Universal Pictures; and the gong represents the Rank Film Corporation, whose films opened with a huge gong being struck.
  
  
• The newspaper that Janet is reading while driving with Brad can be seen as "The Plain Dealer." This is the newspaper of Cleveland, OH.
  
  
• The ads for the original release in 1975 parodied the film Jaws (1975)" They showed the red "lips" logo against a black backdrop and said, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show - a different set of jaws."
  
  
• Cliff De Young was offered the role of Brad Majors, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. He finally got his chance in Shock Treatment (1981).
  
  
• When we see the castle at the start, the camera zooms in onto a crystal dome on top of the castle. This would appear to be the same dome used in Richard O'Brien's series "The Crystal Maze" (1990).
  
  
• The Broadway production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opened at the Belasco Theater in New York on March 10, 1975 and ran for 45 performances and was revived in 2001.
  
  

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