rewrite this content and keep HTML tags FILE: Carol Doda, San Francisco’s “topless queen,” sits in her dressing room at the Condor Club. Bettmann ArchiveIt’s 1960s San Francisco, and you’re watching a petite blonde frolic through the city while wearing nothing but knee-high socks and dirty Keds. Men swarm behind her, following her every move. To her loyal disciples, she’s a Broadway bombshell with DD breasts that defy the laws of nature. To conservative politicians, she’s complete and total anarchy. Her name is Carol Doda, and we owe a lot to her.“Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” the feature-length documentary directed by Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker, chronicles the life of Carol Doda, the nation’s first topless dancer who became an unlikely symbol of freedom in the mid-1960s. The 100-minute film weaves together vivid archival footage and photographs to paint a bygone era of San Francisco, back when go-go girls wore luxurious beehives and Motown greats dominated Broadway’s club circuit. The Condor, which still stands on Columbus Avenue, was perhaps the crown jewel of San Francisco strip clubs thanks to Doda’s explosive decision to perform topless on a white piano that descended from a hole in the ceiling. Her performance — along with designer Rudi Gernreich’s monokini swimsuit — put her at the center of intense public debate surrounding obscenity, feminism and the burgeoning sexual revolution. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adFILE: Carol Doda shows off the headlines in front of the Condor where she performs. Bettmann Archive“I think on some levels, she really knew it was a weapon,” cultural critic Wednesday Martin said in the film. According to directors, Doda was so famous that she became a tourist attraction “second only to the Golden Gate Bridge,” inspiring a slew of imitators. After her sensational debut in 1964, one club, Tipsy’s, featured a topless rock band called the Ladybirds, while other businesses featured topless employees serving clam chowder, selling men’s clothing and shining shoes. Despite multiple police raids and an infamous “topless trial” that same year, the dancers prevailed. Subsequently, San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to legalize topless dancing in 1965, cementing its status as a red-light destination. Toplessness was officially a craze — and also a curse. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adTo stand out among competing dancers, early in her career, Doda made the controversial decision to inject industrial-grade silicone into her breasts, ballooning from a B cup to a DD. At the time, little was known about the banned procedure’s catastrophic health impacts — but for women at the Condor, it was a necessary risk they had to take if they wanted financial security.For McKenzie, the documentary’s director who’s based in the Bay Area, this was yet another point of intrigue aside from the legal escapades and media firestorms surrounding Doda. “I had a lot of arguments going on inside of me,” McKenzie told SFGATE. “How could she do that? And how could people let her do that, and how could people pressure her to do that, and what kind of world is it where this was the journey that someone goes on?”File: Topless dancer Carol Doda covers up with an umbrella while meeting the press, November 1966. Jack Smith/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesThe film also reveals a core issue of the sex and entertainment industry, or any industry for that matter, that still persists today: the brutal reality that no matter how talented or hardworking you are, your boss is the one who will reap most of the benefits. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adEven though Doda became synonymous with the Condor, the men at the top rejected her demands for higher pay. “Naturally, we turned her down,” said Pete Mattioli, the former club owner, in an interview with the filmmakers. “We’re not gonna give her any percentage of the place; we own the place.” In response, Doda packed up her plumage and left, forming her own Las Vegas-style production that collapsed within a year. Meanwhile, the Condor still had her name and image up in lights like she had never left. After a few brief stints in Los Angeles and Vegas, she finally returned to the club, where she remained a small-time celebrity. But by then, change was already afoot in North Beach. Porn was slowly taking over, hard drugs were tightening their grip on Broadway, and the Condor’s previous owners fled. The club — and the entire landscape — turned into something darker, seedier. Doda, too, was keenly aware that she was aging out of a ruthless industry that values the bodies of young women above all else. FILE: Legendary North Beach stripper Carol Doda works at her Champagne and Lace lingerie shop in San Francisco, on Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesEventually, she retired from North Beach but refused to accept the expiration date that patriarchal society imposed on her. To survive, she put on wild heavy metal acts at DNA Lounge and operated a phone sex line from the back of her lingerie boutique in the Marina. “She had a lot of irons in the fire,” Parker told SFGATE.AdvertisementArticle continues below this ad“Economically, she was quite a force and indomitable spirit but always just, you know, the sweetest person in terms of her interaction with people.” Around this time 25 years ago, Parker met her at that same Pepto-Bismol-colored storefront, back when he was a budding filmmaker and musician. He became fascinated with her, especially since she traded family life for fame, feather boas and glitter. But not long after, her health deteriorated. In her twilight years, the silicone caused serious health complications that led to Goodpasture syndrome, a disease that targets the lungs and kidneys. Regardless, Doda continued performing at intimate venues like the Tupelo and the Caffe Trieste until her death in 2015 at age 78. This year, a mural was unveiled in her honor in front of the Bodega wine bar on Columbus Avenue, just a few blocks from the Condor. Though Doda never technically broke the law, she was a true rebel — and a role model for those who are unearthing her story. FILE: Carol Doda, a trailblazing topless dancer, was once one of San Francisco’s biggest tourist attractions in the 1960s.San Francisco Public Library“She never gave up on her love to perform, and this was what she was supposed to do,” said McKenzie. “And I take a lot of inspiration from her following her dreams.” AdvertisementArticle continues below this adTickets for the Mill Valley Film Festival screenings of “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” scheduled for Oct. 10 and Oct. 14, can be purchased here.
SF’s biggest tourist attraction was once a topless dancer
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