Last Call At Maud's

An engaging slice of Americana, Paris Poirer's Last Call at Maud's traces the history of San Francisco's longest running lesbian bar, from its opening in 1966 until closing night, September 9, 1989. In and around the story of Maud's, Poirer examines the evolution of gay bars from the 1940s to the paranoid conservative milieu of the 1950s and the explosion of the counterculture during the 1960s. One Maud's regular recalls a visit from Janis Joplin (the woman delivered her version of "Piece of My Heart" only to earn a rude retort from the singer). Another interviewee remembers the Castro St. "look" during the 1970s (short-haired, mustachioed, tanned white hunks), a look which, unfortunately, didn't include people of color who, she says, were often discriminated against in gay bars. In the 1980s, however, the bar scene began to shift as the specter of AIDS stole the laughter and camaraderie--people became more serious, didn't drink as much, and consequently, places like Maud's had to close their doors. a good mix of archival footage, interview clips, and period music make Last Call at Maud's a fun historical trip. And viewers will learn that decades ago in San Francisco the question "do you want to go to the library tonight?" meant something a little different. Recommended. (R. Pitman)