mattbaume

Bonus Video! Meet Joani Hannon, Owner of Popular Queer Bars in 1950s Los Angeles

Added 2023-09-10 16:01:00 +0000 UTC

Hello there! This week Ollie and I have QUITE a bonus video for you: This is the story of Joani Hannon, a queer woman whose name isn't widely known today, though it absolutely should be.

Joani and her brother David were gay siblings who ran a queer bar in Los Angeles in the 1950s, at a time when it was super dangerous to do so. She also played the drummer in the film Some Like it Hot, and had a cute little interaction with Marilyn Monroe down in San Diego. After the film came out, Joani struck out on her own with a new performance venue in LA that provided a safe space for queer folks through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Along the way she appeared in a lesbian-exploitation film, sweet-talked a producer into moving her entire home and bar up to Northern California, and kept drumming like a house on fire well into her 80s. Just an amazing woman and an absolute heroine.

Here's the full 20-minute documentary about Joani's life -- highly recommended!!! https://vimeo.com/138700734

For the full film Mondo Rocco, make sure you've installed every ad-blocker and anti-virus program you can, and then skip to 10:50 in the above video for the on-screen link. Or check out this short excerpt from USC, which is probably a lot safer: https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2A3BXZ0XOQWR&SMLS=1&RW=1385&RH=656&FR_=1&W=1871&H=1253

And of course, join me for another livestream today at noon pacific! We'll be starting a watch-along of Psycho. http://twitch.tv/mattbaume