In the spirit of Women’s History Month, the recently released “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor” documentary salutes a woman whose life might not be the most commonly celebrated career trajectory – Carol Doda, the mother of topless burlesque. In many ways, Doda looms large as a pioneering figure in 60s counterculture, women’s liberation, and nightlife lore. Her life is an instructive, if not unorthodox, anecdote of female empowerment and breaking the (non-corporate) glass ceiling, without which much of our media culture would be unfathomable. In less than a decade, this twenty-something cocktail waitress with dreams of fame challenged the status quo, taught the squares to have fun, and love the female body (natural and enhanced) unabashedly.
Back in the day, Doda’s style of dancing was known as shake dancing – and shake-shake-shake she did. It was the earliest phase of the 60s, when the collective pelvis of American youth had just been liberated by the swinging sounds of rock’n roll. This was the era when female go-go dancers gyrating and doing the twist to the early sounds of Sly Stone was peak entertainment. In between slinging trays of martinis in San Francisco’s North Beach bar corridor, Doda perfected the swim dance, carved out a compelling stage gimmick, and made a name for herself. Legend has it that one night, the dance queen needed space at the crowded Condor Club and picked the only platform available – atop the piano.
Afterwards descending from the ceiling like a Greek goddess on a floating platform became her signature shtick. Her publicist advised her to up the ante with a fashion upgrade. The popular and scandalous trend, the monokini – basically a topless bathing suit – was what he had in mind. Within weeks, thanks to the 1964 Republican Convention, conservative delegates and candidates descended on the club for the novelty of nude breasts in one of the only locales where it was legal.
In the perennial threat of prudery around women’s bodies and sexuality, the police raided the club to jail Doda and her fellow bare-boobed brethren for indecency. The predictable aftermath of censorship and negative publicity kicked in and turned Doda into a female Lenny Bruce.
That publicist struck again while the iron was hot. Born slender and a de facto member of the itty bitty committee, Doda was advised to go big or go home. With full zeal, the flat-chested siren embraced silicone – the version available back in the day. Similar to Marilyn Monroe, Doda underwent not implants but freefrom injections into the breast tissue. Voila… her bust ballooned. The urban legend was reborn in a top-heavy silhouette… from barely an A to a G cup.
A star was born. Doda led a life as grand as her boobs. She appeared on talk shows, inspired a generation of knock-offs and wannabes, and dated Frank Sinatra. But all things must come to an end…
In a mix of one-of-kind footage of 60s nightlife, interviews with her surviving peers, and analysis by historians, filmmakers Jonathan Parker and Marlo Mackenzie have crafted an homage to Carol Doda’s life and the Golden Age of topless burlesque in San Francisco’s North Beach. By focusing on the liberation and exhilaration they both promised amidst the upheavals of Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement, the film is an exploration of pitfalls and limits: the excesses of silicone which resulted in total loss for other dancers; the sex positive milieu which gave way to pimps and porn; the zeal to party which birthed the drug crisis for San Francisco is known. And Doda too, chasing, yet never capturing, the fame and notoriety she once attained for the rest of her life.
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“Carol Doda Topless at the Condor” is in theatres now. Live Burlesque shows will accompany screenings in select cities.
