Topless at the Condor, fearless in real life
“Carol Doda topless at the Condor,” the enlightening and fun new documentary from directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan parker, delivers on its title. but those seeking mere titillation will instead leave the theater contemplating much deeper themes. In telling the story of Doda, the first performer to go topless, in the san francisco North beach district, McKenzie and parker raise questions about female bodily autonomy and the price of being a trendsetter.
the documentary is based, in part, on the memoir “three Nights at the Condor,” written by benita Mattioli, whose husband, pete, was the co-owner of the Condor Club in North beach. In addition to the Mattiolis, a slew of people provide fascinating firsthand accounts of what went down back then. We hear from bartenders, rival club owners, other topless dancers, and visitors to the clubs.
Most importantly, the late Doda tells her own story through video and audio clips. she’s an engaging presence, quick with a one-liner and completely unapologetic about her choices. those who knew her paint a picture of a lonely, private person who presented a vivacious, public persona. but this movie never dwells on any hardships; it delivers its material without judgment.
And of course, there’s copious amounts of nudity, which the film presents under the assumption that you’ve seen bare breasts before and will behave yourself at the theater.
before she became the second-mostpopular tourist attraction in the bay Area (after the Golden Gate bridge), Carol Doda was a cocktail waitress at the Condor. by the time the solano County native started working at the club on the corner of broadway and Columbus, the area had a reputation as the “off-season Vegas.”
because of her friendly personality, Doda was a favorite of the Condor’s patrons. Her impromptu dance moves as she served drinks earned her a stage gig as a dancer for the house band. When the band complained that she was hogging their space, she started dancing atop the grand piano.
As her popularity grew, the Condor’s management team got the wild idea to fit the club with a hydraulic system that lowered that piano from a hole in the ceiling. Doda danced on top as it descended. Her act became a hit.
enter the monokini, a swimsuit designed by fashion maven Rudi Gernreich. the monokini was a one-piece bathing suit whose one piece only covered the bottom half of the woman wearing it. Wearing this garment at any public beach in America would have gotten a woman arrested.
Wearing a monokini in North beach was a different story. the Condor’s hype man, David “big Davey” Rosenberg, convinced Doda to don the outfit during her June 19, 1964 appearance. on that day, Doda descended from the ceiling and into history as the first topless dancer.
At the same time, feminism was gaining traction (betty friedan’s “the feminine Mystique” came out in 1963), and the civil rights movement was in full swing. In san francisco, the gay movement was finding its voice. “Condor” does a very good job filtering its content through a feminist lens, but it falters by not examining the racism that was prevalent. (Dancers of color were banned until the late 1980s, for example.)
At least Doda’s friend and rival performer, Judy Mamou, whose husband, Jimi, is black, provides some insight in this regard. the Mamous talk about how they could have been arrested for being together, and how minorities were also banned as patrons in the clubs.
Mamou also nonchalantly tells us that “Men want boobs.” And North beach did its best to give the public what it wanted. Among the offerings: topless bands, a topless clam-chowder joint, and a topless men’s clothing store (the workers were bare, not the customers).
“When they opened the topless shoeshine stand,” former us Congressman and North beach bartender John burton tells us, “the cops were gonna bust the [expletive] street!” those arrests led to an obscenity trial. the resulting acquittal made san francisco the toplessdancer capital of America.
throughout, “Condor” makes some fascinating points, including the revelation that, until the end of World War II, breasts were not at the forefront of the male gaze. think betty Grable’s pin-up, or Ann Miller’s musicals — legs were the selling point. the shift to cleavage came with Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, and Jayne Mansfield.
this new concept of “the bigger, the better” led to the silicone-injection fad, which this film documents. With these dangerous injections, Doda went from a 32b to a 44DD, and her stardom exploded. other women followed suit, some with tragic, disastrous results.
though women’s bodies have always been a political battleground, “Condor” makes a case that breasts are the most politicized body parts of all. It also makes a case for listening to the women who tell their stories rather than passing judgment on what you think is best for them. the film points out that Doda, Mamou, and others didn’t need to be rescued by the wrongheaded concepts of chivalry.
“I wanted to be in show business,” Doda tells an interviewer, “and I didn’t know any other way than showing my business.” there isn’t a hint of regret in her voice. Hell, she won the 1974 Harvard businessperson of the Year award. so she must have been doing something right.