CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR

(director/writer: Marlo McKenzie, Jonathan Parker; screenwriter: inspired by Benita Mattioli’s memoir Three Nights at the Condor; cinematographers: Marlo McKenzie, Patrick Fogarty; editor: Jennifer J. Mayer; music: Jack D’s Band of Thieves; cast: Polly Mazza, Jerry Martini, Jimi Mamou, Judy Mac, Pete Mattioli, Charlie Farrugia, Art Thanash, Judy Mamou, Mike Boone, Sarah Thornton, David “Big Davy” Rosenberg, Wednesday Martin, Benita Mattioli; Runtime: 100; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Lars Ulrich, Vance Palomino, Marlo McKenzie, Jonathan Parker; Picturehouse; 2023)

“Entertaining historical biopic documentary on a little known today cultural trend setter for the Sexual Revolution.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

First-time feature film director Marlo McKenzie and veteran director Jonathan Parker (“The Architect” /”Bartleby”) co-direct and co-write this entertaining historical biopic documentary on a little known today cultural trend setter for the Sexual Revolution. It uses talking heads, clips of its subject Carol Doda and archival footage to tell its story. The film was inspired in part by Benita Mattioli’s memoir Three Nights at the Condor.

The story covers Carol Doda from the time of her topless dance performed wearing the bottom part of a “monokini” swimsuit while  atop the piano at the Condor’s night club in San Francisco’s North Beach, in 1964, until her last public appearance in the 2010s when her fleeting fame was gone. She died in 2015 as a lonely person forgotten by the world.


In 1964, the San Francisco icon Carol Doda was the first to go topless in a night club. It took place in the club where she worked as a waitress. After the Women’s Lib Movement took hold in the 1970s, Carol considered herself a feminist and a liberated woman for her topless act.

She quit working at Condor’s over a salary dispute, had silicone injections to increase her B cup size from 34 to 44 DD, dated celebs and even had an affair with Sinatra. After leaving the Condor, she formed a rock and roll act, was a phone sex operator, opened a boutique, and became a regular on local TV. But she led a lonely life, supposedly never married and was not featured in the nude anymore when she aged. I found her likable and had no trouble relating to her.

The film treats her fairly, and does not judge her for her controversial life decisions.

It played at the Telluride Film Festival.

dennisschwartzreviews.com
REVIEWED ON 3/29/2024  GRADE: B