There’s an immense amount of ground covered in “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” ironic for a documentary revolving largely around a pioneer who established a reputation in the 1960s as a frequently uncovered, immensely popular topless dancer at San Francisco’s legendary Condor Night Club. Directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker unquestionably make efforts to ensure that the late Carol Doda receives a fair amount of the film’s spotlight, but aren’t shy about weaving in an assortment of additional subjects, both related and seemingly otherwise, mixed with a pile of vintage clips and footage of the era so as to create a portrait of a time as much as the woman after which the film carries its name. In doing so, does it succeed?
It depends. The biographical portion of Doda’s story jumps in shortly before her Condor dancing debut, as she moves from a somewhat everyday, nonetheless energetic Condor waitress to topless glory. The film also takes time to discuss the design and rise of the monokini, a garment signature to Doda’s routine, along with the variety of dance crazes and music that served to soundtrack the walls of many a North Beach club where Doda and countless colleagues called home. As an industry materializes around Doda, interviews show the innovator as outgoing, bluntly honest, and beyond charming; it’s hard not to chuckle at her self-deprecating personality and easygoing rapport with anyone on the receiving end of her many onscreen conversations. In an effort to stand out in more ways than one, Doda became an early recipient of breast augmentation surgery. A plot deviation, the film spends a substantial amount of time covering this thread in some detail as fellow recipients discuss the various side effects, some potentially life-threatening, that emerged as a direct result of untested silicone injections and the like. It’s this surgery that would lead directly lead to Doda’s decline in health later in life and could almost serve as a cursory warning to those considering such a procedure; those profiled during the segment aren’t shy when it comes to discussing what happened.
Despite the cultural change, free love and women’s liberation of the ‘60s, a backlash against Doda and her compatriots was soon to arrive, leading to an eventual decline of the industry. Seeing this coming isn’t at all difficult. Nor is it hard to predict the inevitable moments when the interviewees delve into their feelings toward objectification, patriarchal sentiments and, on the converse, women who actually felt empowered to be working in such a field and many more satisfied to simply have a job. As Doda attracted a level of international fame, the film touches on certain aspects of her personal life, from relationships both public and private as well as the offspring with whom she shared little contact. The passing of years saw Doda appear withdrawn and eventually depart from the world she helped create, followed by failed attempts to break into film and music. It all leads to a concluding montage of the icon’s final decades, which included work as a phone sex operator, frontwoman for a rock band, and owner of a boutique store, where patrons entered seemingly with the sole interest in laying eyes on Doda.
The doc’s stumbles are arguably the decision to include numerous diversions. Though McKenzie and Parker seem to do their best to tie it all together, it does become muddled, even slightly haphazard as the documentary moves along. There’s certainly no shortage of interviews, as if the directors were able to track down every last living associate of Doda’s. And it’s here that detours become even more frequent, such as how one such subject and her interracial marriage lead to a blacklist from the industry she loved. Even Lenny Bruce and his outspoken “voice of a generation” persona figure into the structure. Like all of the film’s side quests, while the section never feel completely out of place, it’s still somewhat slapdash in inclusion.
Doda’s magnetism does make you wish the doctor could have spent more time hearing from her herself, and she possesses far more substance than many likely realized at the time. Even so, despite all the diversions, it’s still a largely satisfactory viewing experience overall. It remains a question if a film focused solely on Doda could work, and the hope is someday someone could make that all work (a lack of first-person interviews or archival footage likely the culprit). To make it in show business, Carol Doda needed to show her business. These are almost exact words from the mouth of the woman herself, another example of her wit, appeal, and the type of trailblazer the world sadly lost before she got her proper due. [B]