TITLE
An Oral History of Tim Curry’s Escape to the One Place Uncorrupted by Capitalism
AUTHOR
Duncan Fyfe
PUBLICATION
Waypoint: Games By Vice
YEAR
2022
ARTICLE TYPE
Interview
FROM THE ARTICLE
Is it the sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is it Wadsworth the butler who butles in Clue, is it Stephen King’s sewer clown in It? Or is this—seriously, this short, ridiculous cutscene from Red Alert 3—the defining performance of Tim Curry’s long career?Curry, at 62, addresses the camera from a desk, costumed in Russian military uniform and what’s supposed to be a Russian accent. “I’m escaping,” he says, “to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism.” There’s a pause, then, maybe a longer pause than you’d want for a clean take. Then the smile creeps out. Now he’s huffing, he’s puffing—a big bad wolf who finds blowing down houses to be unbearably funny. He’s coming undone. Is that what’s happening?
“SPACE!” he snarls: throat thrown back, eyes rolling up to face God. Then he looks down the camera—he looks at you—with delirious, high-wire glee. It’s almost gloating, that look: he did it, he finished the line, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Maybe it’s not Curry’s “best” performance, or the campiest, or the funniest, but it is surely the most enigmatic. Did he basically blow that take, or make an interesting, interesting choice? Either way, why did they use that take—and who are “they?” This clip was already from an obscure enough entry in Curry’s filmography. By now, it is absolutely best known out of context, a meme fully detached from its source material, locked in elliptical orbit around the internet. It is Curry’s very weird comet.
Here, for the first time, is the story of that scene, and its legacy.
COMPANIES MENTIONED
Electronic Arts Los Angeles
GAMES MENTIONED
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Stuart Allison
Joshua Basche
Chriss Corry
Tim Curry
Ed Del Castillo
Andrew Divoff
Ron Garan
Tom Jones
Greg Kasavin
Scott Kelly
Katie Mack
Ivana Milicevic
Alex Navarro
Anthony Oliveira
Haris Orkin
Michael Pachter
Mical Pedriana
Chris Person
Jasen Torres
Yanis Varoufakis
Mike Verdu
ALTERNATE LINK
Archived Copy @ Internet Archive