Tim Curry’s wry humor was on full display at rare appearance for 50th anniversary screening of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’

By Dan Heching, CNN

(CNN) — It’s not easy giving yourself over to absolute pleasure – unless you’re watching one of the most popular midnight movies in the presence of a cult movie icon.

Tim Curry made a surprise appearance at a 50th anniversary screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” over the weekend at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles as part of the long-running Cinespia screening series, where love from an adoring, multigenerational audience came in the form of several standing ovations.

Curry’s costar Barry Bostwick in the 1975 film introduced him just ahead of the screening, saying he “wouldn’t be here tonight if it wasn’t for a young actor named Tim Curry, who took a chance at one time, and put his blossoming career potentially up in the air when he put on 6-inch high heels.”

The 79-year-old actor, also famous for his starring role in ’80s gem “Clue,” addressed the audience from a wheelchair, which he has been using since a stroke in 2012.

With his signature wit, Curry told the crowd: “I’d like to tell you that I haven’t been legless before tonight, but it wouldn’t be true. I’m, unfortunately, currently sitting in a wheelchair, so get over it!”

He also joked with Bostwick, 80, saying, “When Barry was being introduced, he was introduced as ‘OG,’ and I’m assuming that means ‘old geyser.’”

“We’re all that way, Tim,” Bostwick said back.

“True,” Curry admitted, “but you’ve got that lovely white hair.”

Bostwick also had some kind words for Curry, recalling how they made the film on a shoestring budget over the duration of only five weeks and highlighting Curry’s inviting demeanor on set.

“When I first met everybody on the set or in rehearsal for ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ you were the one who came up and gave the biggest hug, and gave us the warmest welcome,” he said. “And I’ll never forget that.”

Bostwick also remembered arriving to set with costars Susan Sarandon and the late Meat Loaf, who died in 2022.

“When we got off the plane, you hugged us and you said, ‘Welcome, welcome, welcome to your world’ – and we’ve been there for 50 years,” he said. “Thank you, Tim. We love you.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Curry responded.

A madcap and subversive musical journey that in many ways feels just as envelope-pushing now as it did at the time of its release, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” began as “The Rocky Horror Show” in 1973 in a London theater, authored by Richard O’Brien, who also plays Riff Raff in the movie. Making the leap from stage to screen, the “Picture Show” was originally marketed as ‘A different set of ‘Jaws,’” as it came out at the tail end of the summer that saw the release of Steven Spielberg’s behemoth killer shark blockbuster.

“Rocky Horror” initially fared much, much poorer at the box office and was written off as a flop.

But as seen in the trailer for the new documentary “Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror,” now in theaters, the decision to later move it to a midnight time slot proved wise and ultimately very profitable, as “the same 50 people every week” began showing up to the movie theater – eventually leading to recurring midnight (or late-night) screenings in cities and towns everywhere and turning the movie into what is now regarded as the longest-running theatrical release in movie history.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” regularly hosts screenings in multiple locations in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Munich and more.

There’s something strangely emotional about a film you know so well feeling somehow new and exciting when screened amongst enthusiasts in the right environment (in this case, a cemetery in Hollywood at the start of October). Watching it among a sea of strangers who also adore this hallmark of counterculture that has now become its own established piece of American culture, made every call-and-response refrain even more special.

Toward the end of his address before the movie, a voice from the crowd shouted to Curry, “We love you.” It didn’t go unnoticed by Curry.

“I love you more,” he said. “I love you much more.” (To which the crowd replied, of course, “More, more, more!”)

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