Sure, HBO series “The Deuce” may have piqued some interest in the history of classic porn cinema, but now the outrageous true story of Times Square staple Chelly Wilson is getting the spotlight.
Documentary “Queen of the Deuce” centers on Wilson’s personal history before building a porn theater in the notorious Times Square vicinity known as the Deuce. Wilson’s reign ranged from the late ’60s to the mid-’80s as she earned a reputation as one of the savviest and most enigmatic figures on the scene.
Greek-born Wilson escaped the Holocaust in WWII, emigrated to the U.S., and married a slew of men while being openly gay. Her legacy in the world of adult cinema is examined by filmmaker Valerie Kontakos (“Mana”), who has written, directed, and produced the documentary.
“Queen of the Deuce” is further produced by Ed Barreveld and Despina Pavlaki, who also co-wrote the...
Documentary “Queen of the Deuce” centers on Wilson’s personal history before building a porn theater in the notorious Times Square vicinity known as the Deuce. Wilson’s reign ranged from the late ’60s to the mid-’80s as she earned a reputation as one of the savviest and most enigmatic figures on the scene.
Greek-born Wilson escaped the Holocaust in WWII, emigrated to the U.S., and married a slew of men while being openly gay. Her legacy in the world of adult cinema is examined by filmmaker Valerie Kontakos (“Mana”), who has written, directed, and produced the documentary.
“Queen of the Deuce” is further produced by Ed Barreveld and Despina Pavlaki, who also co-wrote the...
- 4/18/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review for “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” a documentary about a different time and morality in America, written and directed by Mario McKenzie and Jonathan Parker. In select theaters on March 29th. See local listings.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Carol Doda was an exotic dancer in San Francisco in the 1960s, who hijinks eventually led the way to a loosening of standards and breast coverings at the strip (hyy-oh) of clubs in North Beach. Doda was a waitress at the Condor, who began to dance on top of the piano as a gag, and her outgoing nature began to get popular, especially after she donned the infamous “monokini” topless bathing suit for the act in 1964. This led to a busting out of similar clubs in San Fran, but it was Carol who owned the street in the early days, honored by the Condor with...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Carol Doda was an exotic dancer in San Francisco in the 1960s, who hijinks eventually led the way to a loosening of standards and breast coverings at the strip (hyy-oh) of clubs in North Beach. Doda was a waitress at the Condor, who began to dance on top of the piano as a gag, and her outgoing nature began to get popular, especially after she donned the infamous “monokini” topless bathing suit for the act in 1964. This led to a busting out of similar clubs in San Fran, but it was Carol who owned the street in the early days, honored by the Condor with...
- 3/27/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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?
Continue reading ‘Carol Doda Topless At The Condor’ Review: A Trailblazing Dancer Gets Her Due at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Carol Doda Topless At The Condor’ Review: A Trailblazing Dancer Gets Her Due at The Playlist.
- 3/24/2024
- by Brian Farvour
- The Playlist
Q&a’s are a staple of indie opening weekends since they tend to sell tickets but Bob and Jeanne Berney’s Picturehouse has raised that bar, offering audiences seven-minute live burlesque revues before selected screenings of documentary Carol Doda Topless At The Condor. The ode to the woman, and to 1960s San Francisco where she broke out topless, opens in limited release in New York, LA, San Francisco and San Rafael. Dancers in what Bob Berney called a “Doda-esqe burlesque” will not be topless,” he said — “but pretty close.”
Dancers start in the audience then move to the front of the theater against a specially designed backdrop of image and sound on screen. “It brings you into that world immediately. You are there before the film starts,” he said.
“Eventizing” a film is great if you can do it. The box office is much better but still a bit weird since Covid.
Dancers start in the audience then move to the front of the theater against a specially designed backdrop of image and sound on screen. “It brings you into that world immediately. You are there before the film starts,” he said.
“Eventizing” a film is great if you can do it. The box office is much better but still a bit weird since Covid.
- 3/22/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s funny to think that the birth of our country’s strip clubs traces back to a total drip like Barry Goldwater, but that conservative also-ran was in San Francisco to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president when — on the night of June 19, 1964 — a lounge singer by the name of Carol Doda decided to show the city what she thought about his “traditional American values.”
Okay, technically it was PR maven Davey Rosenberg who had the idea for Doda to descend from the ceiling of the Condor Club in a monokini with her nipples on full display, and the fact that Goldwater was in town for the RNC was more of a coincidence than anything else, but those pesky facts didn’t stop Doda from stealing the Republicans’ thunder and becoming a political icon all her own. Goldwater’s sons even came to see Doda’s show...
Okay, technically it was PR maven Davey Rosenberg who had the idea for Doda to descend from the ceiling of the Condor Club in a monokini with her nipples on full display, and the fact that Goldwater was in town for the RNC was more of a coincidence than anything else, but those pesky facts didn’t stop Doda from stealing the Republicans’ thunder and becoming a political icon all her own. Goldwater’s sons even came to see Doda’s show...
- 3/20/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Carol Doda’s XXX-rated legacy is captured in the documentary “Topless at the Condor.”
Doda made history in 1964 as the first topless dancer in America. Doda’s residency at the Condor in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco propelled her to international sex symbol status. As Doda coos in the IndieWire-exclusive Red Band trailer, “I want to be in show business, and I don’t know any other way than by showing my business.”
“Carol Doda Topless at the Condor” is co-directed and produced by Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker, with Metallica co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich and Vincent Palomino additionally producing. The film premiered at Telluride before screening at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Picturehouse is distributing.
The official synopsis reads: “Against the backdrop of the 1964 Republican Convention, a San Francisco cocktail waitress became one of the city’s most popular entertainers after making her debut as America’s first topless dancer.
Doda made history in 1964 as the first topless dancer in America. Doda’s residency at the Condor in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco propelled her to international sex symbol status. As Doda coos in the IndieWire-exclusive Red Band trailer, “I want to be in show business, and I don’t know any other way than by showing my business.”
“Carol Doda Topless at the Condor” is co-directed and produced by Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker, with Metallica co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich and Vincent Palomino additionally producing. The film premiered at Telluride before screening at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Picturehouse is distributing.
The official synopsis reads: “Against the backdrop of the 1964 Republican Convention, a San Francisco cocktail waitress became one of the city’s most popular entertainers after making her debut as America’s first topless dancer.
- 2/27/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Carol Doda -- who rose to super fame as an Og stripper with huge breasts -- died Monday in San Francisco. She was 78. Doda became extremely popular in the 1960s for her topless dance routines and her 44-inch silicone breasts, which became known as "The new Twin Peaks of San Francisco." After retiring, Doda opened a lingerie shop in San Francisco called "Carol Doda's Champagne and Lace Lingerie Boutique." Without Doda, we might not have celebs like Lady Gaga,...
- 11/11/2015
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
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