rocky horror rumors

Rumor: The opening number, "Science Fiction Double Feature," contains references to many classic science fiction films. Originally, the credits rolled over a montage from these films, but audience reaction was poor.
The Truth: True
Rumor: David Bowie sang for Peter Hinwood in Rocky Horror
The Truth: FalseJim Sharman and Brian Thompson both said that the guys name was Trevor Horn.
Rumor: During Columbia's solo in "The Floor Show," both of her nipples stick out from her bustier. Later, in the swimming pool, her breasts fall out of the bustier completely.
The Truth: True
Rumor: Many of the guests at the wedding are Transylvanians.
The Truth: Few of them are, but I wouldn't say many.
Rumor: An extended final number appears in some American prints and the British tape release.
The Truth: Yes, it is Superheroes, now most new copies of the film made have it.
Rumor: It is rumoured that one country replaced the deleted "Once In A While" number by using lookalikes for Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon.
The Truth: False
Rumor: 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.
The Truth: True, Brian Thompson, forgot to build a door into the lab.
Rumor: The crew had an easter egg hunt one day on the set, and three eggs can be seen in the film: under Frank's throne, one instead of a light in the main room, one as the group goes up in the elevator to the lab.
The Truth: This is still unproven.
Rumor: The set used for Frank-N-Furter's castle was not heated during filming, and Sarandon caught a cold after the pool scene.
The Truth: She actually caught Pneumonia.
Rumor: Richard O'Brien broke his thumb during the making of Rocky Horror, hence the callback "Follow the bouncing thumb"
The Truth: Untrue
Rumor: My cast is the oldest cast in the country.
The Truth: Probably Untrue, unless you are in Allentown, PA. They are the longest running cast. Every weekend, no breaks, since early 1975 (From what I am told). Same movie house, same physical theater. They do it every weekend. And have never missed a weekend.
Rumor: My cast is the 2nd oldest.
The Truth: Who cares.
Rumor: I can't show Rocky in my city because another cast has it within 100 miles.
The Truth: Untrue, it is all based on distributors.
Rumor: Only Sal Piro can get me a new print
The Truth: Untrue, try your movie distributor.
Rumor: There are only 18 trannies shown in the movie
The Truth: Untrue, 18 Translyvanians plus Frank, Riff, and Magenta (they are also from Transylvania)
Rumor: Richard O'Brien was a cheese farmer.
The Truth: Untrue
Rumor: There is an air conditioner in the church window
The Truth: Untrue, look close, it's a propped open window.
Rumor: The band who did the music for Rocky Horror was Procol Harum
The Truth: Untrue;
The band for Rocky Horror;
Richard Hartley: piano
Count Ian Blair: guitar
Dennis Cowan: bass
Martin Fitzgibbon: drums
Phil Kenzie: sax


Procol Harum was;
Gary Brooker: vocals, piano
Matthew Fisher: hammond organ
David Knights: bass
Robin Trower: guitar
B.J. Wilson: drums

Rumor: Frank says "A duck.." when they unvail Rocky
The Truth: Untrue; Jason Pfaff, asked Richard O'Brien at the 15th convention what was said and he confimed he says "Hoopla"
Rumor: Larry is the man
The Truth: Untrue; Sal Piro confimed Larry is no longer the man at the Denver 99 con.
Rumor: Tim Curry is gay
The Truth: Who cares, let him live his own life
Rumor: Charles Gray is dead.

Rumors and Facts About DUI:
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DUI Arrest Rumors and Facts
Legal BAC Chart for DUI

The Truth: On Tuesday March 7th, Charles Gray passed away at a Hospital in London England.
Also passed away:
Rufus Collins
Fran Fullenwider
Jonathan Adams
Peggy Ledger
Imogen Claire
Hugh Cecil
David Togari

Shock Treatment: Production Notes

(Note: What follows are the original press notes which
accompanied the release of Shock Treatment in 1981.)

All the world's a TV sound stage in "Shock Treatment." An outrageous new musical from the creators of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," 20th Century-Fox's "Shock Treatment" is set in Denton, USA, a mythical suburban community that shares with its real-life counterparts perhaps the single most over-riding characteristic of American cultural life - an obsession with television.

To lampoon our love affair with the tube, the filmmakers have come up with a unique structural and stylistic device. The entire film takes place inside a television studio. In fact, the entire town of Denton is a television studio, and its residents act like running characters in TV series that have gone wildly out of control.

Our guides through the madness of Denton are Brad and Janet Majors. The perfect young couple of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" visit the station as innocent participants in a daytime marriage-counseling show, "Marriage Maze." It's an apt title. Unbeknownst to Brad and Janet, they're unwitting pawns in a twisted scheme concocted by the station's sponsor, a fast food tycoon named Farley Flavors, who has an old score to settle.

What happens to Brad and Janet?

What strange secret links Brad and Farley Flavors?

Will Brad and Janet survive Farley's evil plot?

Will they live happily ever after?

For the answers to these and other cliff-hanging questions, tune in "Shock Treatment." The film propels Brad and Janet through a whirlwind of soap operas, quiz shows and medical serials, telling us the couple's story in the context of the kinds of programs that have addicted America to television.

The musical score is fast and raunchy, a lively mix of rock and Broadway pop. The characters are crazed comic creations. The satire is wildly impudent. The film, in short, is a true original. Nothing like it has ever been seen before - except, perhaps, in the deranged imagination of someone who's spent the last ten years glued to a TV screen.

"It's not a sequel... it's not a prequel... it's an equal," comments producer John Goldstone, comparing the new film to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." "The real relationship between 'Rocky Horror' and 'Shock Treatment' is the consistent involvement of the same creative team," adds Jim Sharman.

Sharman directed "Shock Treatment" and co-authored the screen-play with Richard O'Brien. O'Brien also wrote the book and the lyrics, composed the music with Richard Hartley and plays a leading role in the film. Lou Adler and Michael White are the executive producers, the design is by Brian Thomson and the costumes by Sue Blane. All performed the same functions on "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Newcomers to the "Rocky Horror" team are Cliff De Young and Jessica Harper, who star as Brad and Janet. Audiences who know them primarily for their acting skills - Harper in the films "Phantom of the Paradise," "Stardust Memories" and the upcoming Steve Martin comedy "Pennies From Heaven," and De Young in such TV movies and mini-series as "Sunshine," "Captains and the Kings," "Centennial" and "Scared Straight" - may be surprised by the deft musical comedy talents displayed by the duo in "Shock Treatment." But for De Young and Harper the film is a return to their beginnings - both stars launched their careers in the Broadway production of "Hair". De Young, Harper and co-star Barry Humphries are joined by "Rocky Horror" cast members Richard O'Brien, Charles Gray, Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell, who play entirely different but equally off-the-wall zanies in "Shock Treatment."

"The intentions of the two films are quite disparate," says director Sharman, "the only tangible links being Brad and Janet as catalyst to the plot. 'Shock Treatment' shows a cartoon world of television-influenced lifestyles and media manipulation. By presenting our TV images, situations and characters trying to avoid reality. Rather, we're giving a new perspective on what is served up every day by the media as reality."

Observes producer John Goldstone: "We are so influenced by the media - the way we dress, the way we talk, our behavior, values and dreams - that to a very real extent, the whole world has become one big TV show." No one knows that better than Cliff De Young: "Years ago I was a regular on 'The Secret Storm' and I invited my mother-in-law to visit the set because it was her favorite soap.

She was very excited - until she actually got to the studio and watched us tape the show. Her reaction was far from what I anticipated. I asked her why she was so disappointed and she said, 'You ruined the show for me.' "She was so hooked on the show, she thought it was real. But when she saw the actors getting ready, putting on their makeup, running lines, and the cameras rolling around, it totally destroyed the reality she had going in her head.

"Our film is going to bring that out, De Young continues. "Every part of life in 'Shock Treatment' is in the context of a TV show."

Indeed, the entire film can be seen as a further episode in the continuing saga of Brad and Janet Majors, the innocent couple from Denton, U.S.A. who wandered into a Transylvanian transvestite convention in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." In that 1975 cult classic, the two young lovers were portrayed by Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon.

Now, with De Young and Jessica Harper in the roles, the perfect couple is not quite as perfect anymore. To solve their marital problems, they appear as contestants on the "Marriage Maze" television show, hosted by the ever-popular Bert Schnick (played by Barry Humphries). But Brad and Janet's problems are just beginning. The station's all-powerful sponsor, Farley Flavors, wants Janet for his very own, for very strange reasons of his own, and has to remove Brad from the scene. He fixes the show to get Brad committed to the town's loony-bin, Dentonvale, a "rest home" run by Cosmo and Nation McKinley (portrayed by Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn), a pair of shrinks who are far crazier than any of their patients.

For Cliff De Young, his dual role in "Shock Treatment" is an actor's dream: he gets to play the hero, Brad, and the villain, Farley Flavors.

"I modeled Brad after David Eisenhower" De Young reveals. "Brad, with his clean-cut innocence and Mr. Squeaky-Clean-America looks, is straight out of the '50s.

"But Farley is definitely not Mr. Clean. He's a snake-oil salesman with slicked-back hair who fine-tunes the fates of Brad and Janet to serve his own evil purposes. Hears the great program director in the sky who makes everything happen."

If Farley bears a strong resemblance to actor Jack Nicholson, "It's deliberate," explains De Young. "Nicholson's screen persona in a lot of his films epitomizes that thing for me, that slick fast-talking American with the smile of a reptile, who turns out to be scheming and manipulative.

"I admire Nicholson a great deal. He made such a strong impression on me that I tried to give Farley the same qualities that many of Nicholson's characters embody."

Through Farley Flavors' Machiavellian plotting, Janet Majors becomes Denton TV's newest new face. With her Ozzie and Harriet upbringing, it should be a dream come true.

"Janet is definitely Little Miss Middle-Class," according to Jessica Harper. "She's lived her whole life in a kind of little frilly doll house, and Brad is the ideal mate for her. "In the first movie, Janet was loyal to Brad but also interested in exploring the bizarre world of Transylvania that she and Brad stumbled upon. Similarly in this movie, she is still loyal to Brad but really loves being on television and doing all these odd things with all these odd people. She's not at all reluctant to leap into this new role of TV superstar that's being offered to her. She discovers that she really is a naughty girl." "Jessica was one of the first people we interviewed for the part of Janet," John Goldstone comments. "What was so wonderful about her against all the others was her voice: it's terrific, and we were determined that the actors signed to play Brad and Janet would do their own singing.

"Jessica also understood the irony of the film. It's a difficult thing for some American performers to be objective about television and the whole underside of pop stardom. But Jessica had no trouble at all with the irreverence of our script." Like Jessica Harper, actor/author/composer Richard O'Brien has no qualms about being irreverent. Proof of that is his appearance in the stage and screen versions of "Rocky Horror" as Riff Raff, the hunchbacked handyman of Transylvania who hails from the planet Transsexual. According to executive producer Lou Adler, "Richard O'Brien's brain - that's where everything is, the inspiration for everything in 'Rocky Horror' and 'Shock Treatment."'

O'Brien's childhood fascination with trashy horror movies inspired him to write "The Rocky Horror Show," first for the stage and then the screen.

"We always knew there would be a follow-up to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.' There's always a 'Son of...', a 'Bride of...' and a 'Son of...Rides Again"', O'Brien jokes. "But we wanted to do something totally different. When we initially conceived 'Shock Treatment', Brad and Janet's home was a real place. The Dentonvale sanitarium was real. Everything was real. The film was set in an American suburb and we were going to shoot as much as we could on location in the U.S.A. But then the Screen Actors strike intervened - and it turned out to be a stroke of good luck. We had to film the picture in England, but since we couldn't recreate American locations there, the movie had to be shot in a studio. It was then that we came up with the idea of setting the whole production inside a TV studio, and making the entire film look like it was shot off a television soundstage. "The story is exactly the one we started out with, but the framework and 'live theatre' look of the film is new." O'Brien the actor has a field day as Cosmo McKinley, Dentonvale's nutty nuthouse keeper.

"Cosmo is a phony," O'Brien says. "Just because he's got a 'doctor' before his name he feels he can cure people. But he's the one who needs curing." So does Cosmo's sister, Nation McKinley, played by Patricia Quinn. "That's right, folks, we're together again," says Quinn, who co-starred with O'Brien in the stage and screen versions of "Rocky Horror." She played Magenta, Riff Raff's incestuous sibling. Nation is a somewhat different character," the actress notes. "She's all terribly clean and healthy - on the outside at least. But inside she's rotten to the core. If she wasn't, I never would have been cast. I'm always cast as a baddy. I don't know why. I'm really a very lovely person."

Also reunited with O'Brien are "Rocky Horror" troupers Charles Gray, Nell Campbell and Jeremy Newson. Gray, a distinguished British character actor, won an entirely new and decidedly rowdier following through his appearance as the Criminologist in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." In "Shock Treatment," Gray is Denton TV's favorite egghead, Judge Oliver Wright, a specialist in in-depth discussions. "I never expected to be the object of a cult," the stentorian Gray remarks with some amusement, adding that he's never even seen "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"I never see any of my films," the actor laughs. It's quite a shock, all the madness that's erupted around the whole 'Rocky Horror' phenomenon. Sal Piro, the president of the Rocky Horror Fan Club, has the coat I wore in that film and he lends it out on special occasions. It's a sort of relic. Like I am."

Nell Campbell - Columbia, the Transylvanian groupie in the stage and screen companies of "Rocky Horror" - turns up in "Shock Treatment" as Ansalong, a nurse in the Dentonvale booby hatch. Campbell's career is straight out of an old MGM musical. Dressed up in top hat and tails, singing and tapping away like Ann Miller, Campbell performed her routine on the streets of London's theatre district, hoping to catch the eye of anyone who could give her a break. Director Jim Sharman saw her, cast her, and the rest is history.

Jeremy Newson is the only member of the "Shock Treatment" cast recreating the same role he played in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." As Ralph Hapschatt, he's the M.C. of the "Faith Factory," Denton TV's inspirational program devoted to mental health. The station's other favorite M.C. is Bert Schnick, host of "Marriage Maze." Australia's Barry Humphries plays Bert like a silent film villain of the German cinema of the 1920s, a Dr. Caligari. "He's a highly expressionist character, a blind Viennese-born game show host. Right away you know he's not rooted in any reality of any kind, except his own."

Humphries is something of a specialist at exploring the lunatic fringe of society. He first achieved fame as the star of a one-man show in which he played, among other bizarre characters, Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife. Dame Edna began to emerge during the actor's college days at Melbourne University and has since delighted audiences in London and New York. With "Shock Treatment," Humphries' one-of-a-kind comic talents will be brought for the first time to international motion picture audiences. The world of Barry Humphries is strange and fantastic. He's right at home in "Shock Treatment."

Production Notes

(Note: What follows are the original press notes which accompanied
the release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 1975.)
From an experimental production in a small London theatre to a smash international stage hit to a major motion picture, all in the space of 18 months! That's the exciting history of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW," a Lou Adler / Michael White musical production for 20th Century-Fox.

"THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" is an outrageous assemblage of the most stereotyped science fiction movies, Marvel comics, Frankie Avalon / Annette Funicello outings and rock 'n' roll of every vintage. Running through the story is the sexual confusion of two middle American "Ike Age" kids confronted by the complications of the decadent morality of the 70's, represented in the person of the mad "doctor" Frank N Furter, a transvestite from the planet Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania.

Created by Richard O'Brien, who wrote the book, music and lyrics and calls it "something any ten-year old could enjoy," this homage to the horror film opened in London at the Royal Court's experimental Theatre Upstairs as a six-week workshop project in June, 1973. The show received such acclaim at this 60-seat theatre that it was quickly moved to larger quarters in a converted cinema in Chelsea. Following the movie theatre's demolition, the show found a permanent home at the 500-seat King's Road Theatre, where it is still playing to packed houses nightly. The play was named "Best Musical of 1973" in the London Evening Standard's annual poll of drama critics.

One of the most dynamic and creative forces of the American music industry, Lou Adler, who was in London, saw "The Rocky Horror Show" and promptly sewed up the American theatrical rights to the play within 36 hours. Long recognized as being involved in the success of some of the great milestone recording artists of the 60's and 70's, and it is a tribute to his persuasiveness and stature in music circles that he won out over many established New York "name" producers.

Adler has initiated many "firsts" in his 16-year career. In 1967 he produced the first contemporary music industry film, "Monterey Pop," filmed at the historic Monterey Pop Festival, which he produced with John Phillips of the "Mamas and Papas." Considered by music historians as possibly the most significant event in pop music history, the first manifestation of the importance and influence of music to the present generations, Monterey also introduced such talents as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

As sole owner and chief executive officer of Ode Records, Adler personally produces every artist on the label and oversees every aspect of the musical careers of such artists as Carole King and Cheech and Chong.

As executive producer of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW," Lou Adler presents his first feature film offering since his Production of Robert Altman's "Brewster McCloud" for MGM. His only prior association with theatre was as one of six backers for Hillard Elkins' short-lived Production of Gore Vidal's "An Evening with Richard Nixon."

The original stage version of "The Rocky Horror Show" was produced by Michael White, one of London's most successful and experienced theatrical producers with over ninety shows to his credit in twelve years, including the London production of "Sleuth," "The Doll's House," "Oh! Calcutta" and "Two Gentlemen of Verona." On the opening night of "The Rocky Horror Show" Michael White already had six other major productions running in the West End.

"THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" marks White's first screen credit as producer, but together with the film's Associate Producer John Goldstone his motion picture interests have included "The Final Programme" and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Filming of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" began in October, 1974, at Bray Studios, England's famous "House of Horror" and at a 19th century chateau which served once as the wartime refuge of General Charles DeGaulle.

Both the London and American productions of "The Rocky Horror Show" were directed by Jim Sharman, who makes his motion picture directorial debut with "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW." "All during the theatre version there was a movie it the back of my or mind," he says. Being surrounded by film mythology, the theatre version was very filmic -- as the film is very theatrical, although I've tried to avoid making a sort of filmed stage play. The show treads a thin line between homage and parody. I love the old horror films quite passionately but 'THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW' has its own story and can hold its own whether you are a horror fan or not."

Born and raised in Australia, Sharman trained there with the State Drama Theatre and first made his name with a variety of experimental productions before being recruited as director of "Hair" in Sydney and Tokyo until "Jesus Christ Superstar" brought him to London and "Rocky."

The film version of "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" retains many members of the original Theatre Upstairs company. Repeating the roles they originally created in the theatre are Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff), Patricia Quinn (Magenta), Little Nell (Columbia) and Jonathan Adams (who played the Narrator on stage and now appears as Dr. Scott).

Making his screen debut in "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" is the sensational star of the London, Los Angeles and Broadway versions of the play, Tim Curry, in the controversial role of the transvestite scientist from outer space, Dr. Frank N Furter.

A serious student of drama who has played in Shakespearean productions, the twenty-eight-year-old Curry does not in the least mind being associated with such a sexually bizarre character. "He has a very odd kind of appeal, particularly to women," says Curry. "He is certainly not corrupting, even to people outside the big cities. He can go from doing something really outrageous and horrific to being deeply moving."

The character of Frank N Furter remains essentially intact in its transition from stage to screen. "A lot has happened to me and the character in a very short period of time," says Curry, "but basically Frank N Furter is the same character that first set sequined high heels on stage just eighteen months ago."

In "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" Transylvania is the name of a galaxy whose space agents assigned to planet Earth have gathered together for their annual Transylvanian Convention. Sets reminiscent of the traditional foreboding Gothic castle yet combining a touch of "Modern Bizarre" were designed by Brian Thomson. An ex-architect who has what he describes as a "healthy contempt" for the idea that scenery is just something in front of which actors act, Thomson has teamed with director Jim Sharman on nine productions including the original stage Presentation of "The Rocky Horror Show."

The film also retains its original costume designer, Sue Blane, whose merry widow corsets, garter belts and half tuxedos adorn the ghoulish group. The outlandish makeup for Tim Curry and the Transylvanians was designed by Pierre Laroche, famed makeup artist of stars and celebrities like both Mick and Bianca Jagger.

Lou Adler attributes the show's quick production as a film (usually a play must run at least year on Broadway before a film production is begun) to the fact that it opened in Los Angeles where studio executives could witness the success of the show and easily see its potential.

A Lou Adler / Michael White musical Production for 20th Century Fox, "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW" was produced by Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman from a screenplay by Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien. Lou Adler is the executive producer. Starring Tim Curry, the film is a screen version of the award-winning hit stage musical with book, music and lyrics by Richard O'Brien.

THE STORY

On the way to visit an old college professor, the two clean-cut kids, Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and his fiancee Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon), run into tire trouble and seek help at the site of a light down the road. It's coming from "the Frankenstein place," where Dr. Frank N Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite from the planet Transexual in the galaxy of Transylvania, is in the midst of one of his maniacal experiments -- he's created the perfect man, a rippling piece of beefcake christened Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood), and intends to put him to good use (his own) in his kinky household retinue, presided over by a hunchback henchman named Riff Raff (Richard O'Brien) and his incestuous sister Magenta (Patricia Quinn), and assisted by a tap dancing groupie-in-residence, Columbia (Little Nell).

Agape in this world of science fiction and fantasy, Brad and Janet don't know what next to expect, when the disastrous result of a previous experiment, an oafish biker named Eddie (Meatloaf), plows through the laboratory wall, wailing on a saxophone. Frank puts a permanent end to this musical interruption without thinking twice until the old professor Brad and Janet had set out to visit, Dr. Scott (Jonathan Adams), turns up at the castle in search of his missing nephew, the juvenile delinquent Eddie. He knows that Frank N Furter is an alien, a spy from another galaxy, and sets out to turn him in, but Frank moves too fast, seducing first Janet, then Brad into his lascivious clutches. Overwhelmed by a newfound libido, Janet hotly attacks the stud Rocky Horror while Brad is under the covers with Frank.

Before Dr. Scott can bring justice and morality into this topsy-turvy Transylvanian orgy, Frank N Furter has turned his captives to stone, in preparation for a new "experiment" -- an all drag revue -- when Riff Raff and Magenta reappear in Transylvanian space togs to wrest control of the mission from Frank N Furter, whose lifestyle is too extreme even for his fellow space travelers. When his lavish histrionic claims of chauvinism fail to soften up Riff Raff and Magenta, Frank N Furter tries to escape, only to be gunned down by their powerful rayguns. Rocky rushes to save his creator, but he, too, is blasted to outer space by the militants.

Brad, Janet and Dr. Scott are left in a fog, incapable of readjusting to the normalcy of the life they've left behind in Denton, now that they've tasted the forbidden fruits of the Time Warp.