This month, the ultimate cult movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, turns 50. But it’s not just fifty years old, it’s been running consecutively in theaters for all of five of those decades. Minus that blip of time we call the pandemic. But even then, hardcore fans found a way to show the movie. Even for an audience of one. This musical sci-fi horror parody that celebrates horniness in its many permutations continues to defy the odds. It recently got a 50th anniversary profile on CBS Sunday Morning featuring many of the original cast members and creators, which you can watch down below:
Rocky Horror began its life as a hit off-Broadway musical. The play lovingly parodied science fiction and horror movies of the ’50s, while celebrating early Rock ‘n Roll, sexual freedom, and open queerness. But what works as a musical show playing in big cities isn’t necessarily a surefire hit everywhere else. When Twentieth Century Fox released the film on September 26, 1975, they had no idea how to market it. In 1975, how do you sell a movie about a mad scientist named Dr. Frank N. Furter from the planet Transexual to middle America? The answer is they didn’t, and the movie flopped. But it quickly found new life as a midnight movie. It drew crowds of outcasts, goths, and party kids at midnight screenings worldwide.
In the clip from CBS Sunday Morning, we see original cast members like Susan Sarandon (you might have heard of her), Barry Bostwick, and Tim Curry reminisce about five decades of this iconic film. Curry, who suffers from partial paralysis, gave a rare interview about the impact his free-spirited character has had on several generations. These days, almost all nonconforming forms of sexual identities are under attack. So the escapism and fun of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is perhaps more relevant than ever. May we all keep doing the “Time Warp” for another fifty years.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is still playing Saturday nights at midnight across the country. It arrives on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc on October 7.