If I had a time machine, I’ve always felt dropping into California in the mid 1960’s would be the most thrilling option. Seemingly the apex of erupting personal freedoms and social reform that would soon sweep the entire country, let’s not forget the bustling explosion of music, film, and overall pop culture nestled within the sun-drenched landscape as well. Haight Asbury. The Los Angeles canyon scene. It’s probably all rose-colored hindsight, but sign me up regardless.
And one of the most pleasurable aspects of Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker’s new documentary Carol Doda Topless at the Condor is the assimilation of footage and ideas during this tepid time of liberation around San Francisco’s North Beach/Broadway area…. a strip of bars, theaters, and adult cabarets that not only fanned the sultry flames of burlesque and pushed the boundaries of stage strip tease, but gave rise to one Carol Doda. Full of wonderfully preserved footage and interviews with many of the people close to Carol. the film is an energetic history lesson about artistic freedom in a city that’s always been way ahead of the cloistered curve.
Though not much is given about Carol’s life up until her cocktail waitress service in the early 60’s at one of the strip’s more popular establishments named The Condor (although a cousin gives hints about Carol’s possible rocky upbringing), the film doesn’t fall into your standard biopic fare of birth to death. From her impromptu dances and stage singing performances as a waitress, Carol’s popularity grew so much, the owners of the club gave her a nightly routine. That routine developed into a nude stage act, complete with a piano that slowly propels down from the ceiling and no ‘pasties’ covering anything. For Carol Doda, it’s all rise, and her unknown past be damned. Carol Doda Topless at the Condor surveys the state of a sexual maverick, and nothing matters but the urgent present.
Charting her rise- and naturally her unavoidable fights with law enforcement throughout her years- Carol Doda Topless at the Condor also opens up and explores the local history of San Francsico’s North Beach area, which looks and feels like something akin to New York’s Times Square in the seventies, except for its sunbaked, ocean-side reverie. Inevitably, it’s a part of town that becomes corroded over time as hard drugs and the lure of commodification enters the scene, but the film earnestly parallels the city’s rise and fall with Carol’s own march through time, including her decline from the choices she made in her early days to stay beautiful and, shall we say, a pointed sexual figure. And though the film loses a bit of its focus when it veers away from Carol during some cultural anecdotal expansions- I’m not quite sure what a brief interlude about the origin of the hit 60’s song “The Swim” really was or the tale of a mob related death towards the end other than to embellish the city’s now swarthy atmosphere – but the film is still an insightful tale of intersecting liberal expression and colorful California history. History that’s rarely heard or seen.
Given the recent social media dialogue about the revulsion of sex in modern American movies (or is this a fabricated line of thought meant to rile up the us-vs-them film community??) Carol Doda Topless at the Condor features plenty of nudity (both in snapshot and archival footage) but uses the images as proof that sex can be used in a multitude of ways. And for Carol Doda and the now forgotten North Beach scene, this documentary proves that it was used for important reasons, which means entertainment and liberal expression for consenting adults. Now, where’s my time machine?
Carol Doda Topless at the Condor opens in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at the Dallas Angelika on Friday April 19th. Select screenings will include a live pre-show performance from Dallas burlesque dancers led by Mink Mimieux.
Dallas Film Now. 