fate of Rocky Horror without the cult

I believe the tradition of audiences shouting out responses to the film started about a year after its release, thus reviving the prospects of what had until that point been a box-office flop. And the rest is history, with full-costumed "midnight screenings" well underway everywhere by the late 70s.

But suppose no one had ever got the idea to start shouting at the screen. We can probably assume that the film itself continues to languish in obscurity, somewhere in the general vicinity of Phantom Of The Paradise as forgotten 70s rock operas go.

But what about some of the personalities involved? Does Susan Sarandon still have a notable career? Or Tim Curry(he's mostly a character actor OTL, but still gets in some pretty prestigious stuff)? I'm guessing Meat Loaf continues on pretty much as he did in real life, since I don't think that movie had much influence on his overall career(though he did appear in a few musically oriented films after that).

And what does a failed Rocky Horror do to the whole concept of "cult films" and "midnight movies"? According to wiki, Pink Flamingos was already being given the midnight treatment before Rock Horror, but anyone who has seen John Waters' masterpiece knows that it's a rather specialized taste, not something likely to encourage a whole new cultural movement.

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I have only ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show once, at a decidedly non-cult screening on a VCR in my mother's living room.)
 
Susan Sarandon is just too talented and beautiful to be sent to obscurity after this movie.
Barry Bostwick (Brad) has become a mainstay on Broadway and played the Mayor on Spin City.
Tim Curry is another matter, maybe he will become a well known stage star in London with the occasional turn on the Broadway stage followed by character parts in movies and television shows shot in New York.
Casting Agents and others involved with movies and television shows will still look at their performances in this film and see that they have talent and this will not be a determent to their careers.

As for the movie itself, it will be forgotten as a not so well made film that came out in the same year that Star Wars did.
 
Thanks ejpsan. I agree some of the people involved were very talented, but I think it's still hard to predict how even a supremely gifted performer would have done in the absence of a particular film. (I guess that's the film-history equivalent of Great Man theory.)

As for the movie itself, it will be forgotten as a not so well made film that came out in the same year that Star Wars did.

Wikipedia lists Rocky Horror as being released on August 14 1975(a few months later for the American date, and Star Wars as being released on May 25 1977.

It is true that the promotion tried to coast on the image of a far more popular Steven Spielberg film. Albeit with ostensible irony.
 
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But suppose no one had ever got the idea to start shouting at the screen. We can probably assume that the film itself continues to languish in obscurity, somewhere in the general vicinity of Phantom Of The Paradise as forgotten 70s rock operas go.

And that's a shame as PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE remains one of my favorite cult films to this day, the soundtrack is severely underrated (the song THE HELL OF IT really hits close to home for me)...

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I have only ever seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show once, at a decidedly non-cult screening on a VCR in my mother's living room.)

Ah, so you're still a virgin then. A local theater here used to show it every Friday night to a VERY enthusiastic audience. I often wanted to go as Riff Raff but never did...
 
A Couple of years ago, a Local theater company did Rocky Horror as a stage play and asked that no one shout or throw stuff during the performance.
While the Actors and Actresses did a good job, The play was just not that great. With out the audience involvement, it is not a very fun or interesting play and The Movie is the same way.
I saw it a number of times in the 1980's and what was fun was that Audience involvement. Without it, Rocky Horror would not be well remember today.
 
eltf:

For the record, I have seen Phantom Of The Paradise, and as I recall, I did like it. Though I can't remember much, except the requisite De Palma Hitchcock tribute(in this case, a shower murder rendered with a toilet plunger). And that it featured ubiquitous 1970s famous-for-being-famous guy Paul Williams.

And yes, I am a virgin, as far as cult screenings go. At 49, I think my chances of popping that cherry are pretty remote.
 
A Couple of years ago, a Local theater company did Rocky Horror as a stage play and asked that no one shout or throw stuff during the performance.
While the Actors and Actresses did a good job, The play was just not that great. With out the audience involvement, it is not a very fun or interesting play and The Movie is the same way.
I saw it a number of times in the 1980's and what was fun was that Audience involvement. Without it, Rocky Horror would not be well remember today.

The art-theatre in my hometown used to have explicitly non-participation screenings every so often. I'd imagine it was pretty boring, but I'm guessing they didn't get many complaints, since, unlike with a live performance, most of the people showing up were just there to watch the film out of curiousity.
 
Don’t forget Rocky Horror was originally a stage show (with Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn Little Nell & of course Richard O’Brian), with the first performance in 1973. It wouldn’t have been made into a film without being a critical and commercial success in the West End, which included the audience participation as I understand it. I think it just took time to cross over from the cross-culture theatre attendees to the cinema crowd.
 
Don’t forget Rocky Horror was originally a stage show (with Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn Little Nell & of course Richard O’Brian), with the first performance in 1973. It wouldn’t have been made into a film without being a critical and commercial success in the West End, which included the audience participation as I understand it. I think it just took time to cross over from the cross-culture theatre attendees to the cinema crowd.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The original play, in contrast to the pre-cult movie, must have been fairly well regarded, for Lou Adler to get the idea that it would work as a film. I'm guessing that in those days, a live-theatre audience would have been more open to the general premise, whereas people going to the movies would be like "Huh? What the hell is this about an RKO Picture? What decade are we in anyway?" If indeed, they even knew what was being referenced there.

Plus, marketing stage-musical films to counterculture audiences wasn't something that was really done in those days. Even Hair had to wait until 1979 to get its turn on the big screen. (And could probably have benefited from a Rocky Horror-style cult to up its box office.)
 
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