The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s US theatrical debut in September of 1976 wasn’t quite what 20th Century-Fox hoped for. Okay, let’s be Frank (no pun intended); the film tanked. Its sole bright spot was at Los Angeles’ UA Westwood Theater, where audiences were good. The strange thing was, a large portion of those audiences turned out to be repeat viewers.
Eager for a way to make the campy horror/comedy/rock musical a success, Fox tried re-releasing it as a “midnight movie” in independent and repertoire cinemas, starting with the Waverly in New York’s Greenwich Village on April 1, 1976. Additional cities soon followed. So, too, did the spontaneous phenonema of attendees yelling comments at the on-screen action (courtesy on the crowd in Austin, Texas); using props like newspapers, water pistols, and rice; and dressing up like the characters. By the end of the decade Rocky Horror was playing the midnight weekend circuit in hundreds of locations across America and around the world. And for many teens and young adults, going to see the film for the first time (referred to as “losing one’s virginity”) became a rite of passage.
My own rite of passage came on a Saturday night–Dec. 30, 1978 to be precise–in Philadelphia. I first went to a Devo/David Johansen concert at the venerable Tower Theater in nearby Upper Darby (amazing show). From there I drove to Philly’s legendary South Street. At the time shifting from hippie refuge to punk enclave, South Street was and still is home to the Theater of the Living Arts. In 1978 the TLA was a rep cinema which ran Rocky Horror weekends at midnight. It was great to finally see the songs that I had heretofore only heard on the soundtrack album…plus a few which weren’t there, and to watch the TLA’s floorshow crew copy the on-screen madness. Top it off with an after-show cheesesteak from Jim’s, and I had a classic “first night.” Fast forward one year later. Rocky was now a Saturday night staple at Newark, Delaware’s since-demolished State Theater, and I was part of their floorshow.
So, that was my initial Rocky Horror experience (I’ll discuss subsquent viewings in a week or two). Now MovieFanFare wants to hear from you, the readers. What was your first exposure to Tim Curry’s Dr. Frank N. Furter and company like? Did you see it in a theater or on TV or video? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Share all the details in the comments below.