Skip to main content
Carol Doda Topless at the Door film image

Carol Doda Topless At the Condor

This event has passed

It was 60 years ago, 1964, that San Francisco nightclub dancer Carol Doda emerged from the hole in the ceiling of the Condor, Venus descendant, shimmying on top of the baby grand piano that was her platform, and exposed her bare nipples to a warm and appreciative audience. It marked a grand blow against pasties, and, some would claim, a definitive step towards women’s liberation. At any rate, American showbiz would not be the same again, no matter that the forces of law and probity would try to stuff the genie back in the bottle.

Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker’s engaging doc is at once a nostalgia trip to a particularly fecund time and place, an affectionate portrait of a troubled but resilient performer, and a thoughtful reflection on the pros and cons of baring your boobs for bucks. America came a long way in the 1960s, for better and for worse, and for a while there Carol Doda was riding the crest of the wave. The Condor became a tourist hotspot, second only to the Golden Gate Bridge, and Carol embraced the emerging science of silicon injections to make sure the fans did not go home disappointed.

Directors

Jonathan Parker & Marlo Mckenzie

Cast

Pete Mattioli, Benita Mattioli, Congressman John Burton, Wednesday Martin, Sly, Jerry Martini

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2023

Language

English

19+
101 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Screenwriter

Jonathan Parker, Marlo Mckenzie

Cinematography

Marlo Mckenzie, Patrick Fogarty

Editor

Jennifer J. Mayer

Also Playing

The Life of Chuck

Dir. Mike Flanagan
111 min

The winner of the coveted Audience Award at TIFF last year, The Life of Chuck keeps us guessing about what it's up to and where it's going... Trust us, it's a keeper.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Graduate

Dir. Mike Nichols
106 min

In The Graduate Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman, 30 playing 20 with masterly understatement) comes home from college and is surprised to be seduced by the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft).

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

blur: To the End

Dir. Toby L.
108 min

Now in their late 50s, Britpopsters blur (of Song 2 fame) do a celebratory lap of Great Britain culminating in their first ever Wembley Stadium show in this appealing observational doc. A companion piece to the concert film Live at Wembley Stadium.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Midnight Cowboy

Dir. John Schlesinger
113 min

Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman are street hustlers on different ends of the innocence / experience spectrum who establish something more than a business partnership in the seedy world of late 60s New York City in John Schlesinger's New Hollywood classic.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema