The Naïve Innocent Gets Eaten Alive by Tinseltown plotline is so well established in exploitation that by now it's even gotten its own glossy Hollywood remake via Nicholas Winding-Refn's THE NEON DEMON. Back in the '70s, however, drive-in audiences had to make do with down-and-dirty examples of the real thing. Hardly the best of the bunch, it's difficult to imagine DANDY inspiring any modern homages.
The film opens with its titular protagonist frolicking naked in the surf, at a secluded beach with her lover, Jocko (David Roya, a handsome never-quite-was with a surprisingly diverse career spanning from David Durston's THE LOVE STATUE to LAW & ORDER: SVU). Sick of her terrible home life (which we never get to see), Dandy asks to move in with Jocko, and, seeking a way to earn her keep, starts going on modeling assignments for sleazy agent Larry Lebot (John Alderman), whose number she gets from her boyfriend. Coming back to the apartment to find Jocko balling some hippie chick, Dandy splits after he indelicately tries to get her to join (can't blame a guy for trying!).
Having, if not burnt, at least singed bridges with her agent after fouling up a gig, Dandy is forced into a series of increasingly degrading situations as Lebot seeks to establish more control. The problem here, however, is that DANDY isn't willing to dive headlong into the kind of sleaze that gives its genre its trademark frisson - unlike roughies of the '60s, DANDY's protagonist is smart enough to split whenever things start getting weird.
So, what we're left with instead of a "fallen girl" film is something much more akin to the picaresque style of other '70s SoCal sexploitation - basically a character ping-ponging from one situation to the next, free as the summer breeze. Dandy's predicament is never really felt - the audience is always sure someone is going to come along and offer a helping hand - and the character, as essayed by the oddly charmless Cynthia Denny, isn't all that appealing to begin with. She doesn't have any of the pluck or vim of someone like a Chris Jordan, who could really sell this character; she just kind of mopes around. It's always exciting when another '70s softcore obscurity resurfaces, but unfortunately, as the vast outputs of companies like Something Weird and Vinegar Syndrome often demonstrate, most of these films fell through the cracks for a reason.
