The Donn of Tiki (Movie Night at Great Star Theater)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Award-winning documentary feature film THE DONN OF TIKI is kicking off their roadshow theatrical tour May 17th in San Francisco at The Great Star Theatre in San Francisco. Featuring a hybrid of animation and documentary, this award-winning film explores the mostly fabricated life of tiki culture’s “founding father,” Donn Beach aka Don the Beachcomber, namesake of the restaurant chain with re-launched locations still operating today.

Doors open 6pm at The Great Star Theater, screening is at 6:30pm, with pre-party at celebrated tiki bar Smuggler’s Cove!

A striking blend of animation styles, both traditional and stop-motion, along with never-before-seen footage, this documentary finally unveils the entertaining, if unverifiable, biography of cocktail innovator and tiki culture pioneer Donn Beach, born Ernest Raymond Gantt. Fresh air is given to an uncovered, longform 1986 interview with Donn via stop-motion animation aesthetics reminiscent of 1960s Rankin/Bass specials, unspooling a story going all the way back to the 1932 opening of the world’s first tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. Brought to life with a whirl of retro animation stylings, The Donn of Tiki is a one-of-a-kind documentary unlike any other on restaurant + beverage history, revealing the tale behind an underexplored subculture.

In a story involving old Hollywood glamour, Prohibition-era bootlegging, 1950s Hawaii and the Chicago mob, this documentary resurrects myths behind the infamous Zombie cocktail, one of Donn Beach’s most potent and lasting legacies still found in bars around the world. Before the current culture of influential celebrity bartenders and restaurateurs, there was Donn.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.