MVFF46: Carol Doda Topless at the Condor

Marlo McKenzie & Jonathan Parker IN PERSON!

Dancer Carol Doda is a San Francisco legend, a game changer, a lightning rod, and a woman so iconic that her figure in flashing neon once loomed over the intersection of Broadway and Columbus. This fascinating documentary explores the legacy of the Condor Club waitress turned entertainer who — thanks to the serendipitous appearance of the monokini – became the city’s first topless dancer. Risky silicone breast injections enhanced Doda’s figure, while her moxie inspired a cottage industry of topless bars that reshaped the city’s nightlife and her “subversive agenda” to find stardom transformed America’s relationship to female nudity. Using the male gaze to her advantage, Doda found power, letting it rip to great effect. Though scorned by some, Doda was widely celebrated — and even wooed by Frank Sinatra—until in later decades she struggled to find her way in a changing landscape and faced the expiration date patriarchy imposed on her. —Celia C. Peters

Presented as part of Mill Valley Film Festival.