The Devil in Miss Jones
 Video cassette cover | ||
| Directed by | Gerard Damiano | |
| Produced by | Gerard Damiano, Harry Reems | |
| Written by | Gerard Damiano | |
| Editing by | Gerard Damiano | |
| Music by | Alden Shuman | |
| Cinematography | Harry Flecks, Gerard Damiano (uncredited) | |
| Distributed by | VCX Ltd. | |
| Released | 1973 | |
| Runtime | 62 | |
| Country | United States | |
| language | English | |
| IMDB Info | 0069969 on IMDb | |
The Devil in Miss Jones is a 1973 pornographic film, written and directed by Gerard Damiano.
Damiano made this movie after his 1972 success with Deep Throat. The film was shot in a house on Park Drive South in the town of Harrison, New York. The original film, along with its sequel (Devil in Miss Jones 2), are considered adult film classics, featuring many adult film stars well known in the "Golden Age of Porn" (mostly the 1970s and early 1980s). The film achieved wide acclaim from the mainstream public and was referenced in many films, books and television programs.
Succeeding "Miss Jones" films extend the title's name to at least six films; most viewers, however, believe they fail to achieve the quality of the original.
In 2006, VCX employed Media Blasters to digitally re-master the movie from the original 35mm film into a "Definitive Collectors Edition" 2-Disc set on DVD. This latest revision has been repackaged and supposedly has the best picture and audio quality of any original Devil In Miss Jones release. The DVDs contains the remastered feature, audio commentary with director Gerard Damiano, a lengthy in-depth interview with Georgina Spelvin, the original trailer, the cable TV version, and a photo gallery.
Plot
Georgina Spelvin plays Justine Jones, a lonely, clinical depressed spinster who (in a chilling opening scene) decides that suicide is the only way out of her routinely dull existence. While lying in the bathtub, Justine slits her wrists, dying quietly as the tub fills with her blood.
Because she has lived a 'pure' life, Miss Jones finds herself in limbo. There she meets Mr. Abaca (John Clemens), an angel, of sorts, who informs her that she does not qualify for entrance to Heaven because she has taken her own life. Angry that this one indiscretion has left her with only the options of limbo or Hell, she begs Mr. Abaca to let her "earn" her place in Hell by being allowed to return to earth and become the embodiment of the sin of lust. After an intense session of pain and pleasure with a menacing "tutor," Harry Reems, Justine has a few bizarre and sexually deviant encounters, the last of which is a graphic, disturbing group sex threesome. This last scene includes the first double penetration shown in a modern porn film.
However, just as she's enjoying her new life of lust, the brief time Justine was given to enjoy herself runs out and she is faced with the eternity of Hell. At first, Miss Jones is horrified at the pain she will be forced to endure, but Abaca is quick is dispel the common human myth of Hell and promises Justine that she will be "quite comfortable..."
Justine, now a raging sex addict, then finds herself confined to a small room with a man who is more interested in catching flies than her. She desperately begs the man for sexual favors, but he simply asks her to be quiet while he listens to the buzzing of his imaginary insects.
Trapped in her own private hell, Miss Jones is left screaming in agony for all eternity, thirsting for a climax she will never achieve by her own means.
Sequels and remakes
The Devil in Miss Jones 2
(1982, VCA Pictures)
Starring: Jacqueline Lorians, Georgina Spelvin, Jack Wrangler, Anna Ventura, Joanna Storm, R. Bolla, Sharon Mitchell, Ron Jeremy
Written by Ellie Hayward and Henri Pachard; directed by Henri Pachard). "…What it lacks in these areas, however, is more than compensated for by the film's sheer good humor, witty dialogue, light-hearted tone, and devilishly horny couples…"
The Devil in Miss Jones 3: A New Beginning
(1986, VCA Pictures)
Starring Lois Ayres, Jack Baker, Careena Collins, Vanessa Del Rio, Amber Lynn, Kari Foxx, Tom Byron, Jennifer Noxt, Chanel, Peter North, Mark Wallice, Paul Thomas. written by Gregory Dark and Johnny Jump-Up; produced and directed by Gregory Dark). "As with DMJ2, however, the best thing about Dark's movie is its tongue-in-cheek tone and stylish, madcap humor. The sets in Hell are a crazy mixture of punk, new wave, Art Deco, and German Expressionism…"
The Devil in Miss Jones 4: The Final Outrage
(1986, VCA Pictures)
Starring: Lois Ayres, Jack Baker, Patti Petite, Kristara Barrington, Keli Richards, Krista Lane, Tamara Longley, Erica Boyer, Paul Thomas, Ron Jeremy, F.M. Bradley
Written by Gregory Dark and Johnny Jump-Up; produced and directed by Gregory Dark.
The Devil in Miss Jones 5: The Inferno
(1995, VCA Pictures)
Starring Juli Ashton, Rip Hymen, Tammi Ann, Nicole Lace, Vanessa Chase, Barbara Doll, Rebecca Lord, Serenity, Tom Byron, Dave Cummings, Mark Davis written by Selwyn Harris; produced and directed by Gregory Dark. "Unless you've got a thing for Juli Ashton, this entry is the weakest of all six DMJ installments…"
The Devil in Miss Jones 6
(1999, VCA Pictures)
Starring Stacy Valentine, Nikita Denise, Vicca, rakelliekki.com, Juli Ashton, Dizzy, Tina Tyler, Lacey Ogden, Peris Bleu, Anita Cannibal, Scotty Schwartz written and directed by Antonio Passolini "Antonio Passolini brings us DMJ6, a totally contemporary take on the Miss Jones story, and one that, at least in narrative terms, connects right back to Damiano's 27-year-old original…" Quotes by Mikita Brottman
The New Devil in Miss Jones
(2005, Vivid Entertainment)
Starring: Savanna Samson, Jenna Jameson, Roxanne Hall, Angelica Sin, Rachel Rotten, Vicky Vette, Dick Smothers Jr, Nick Manning, Tony Tedeschi, Georgina Spelvin; written by Dean Nash and Raven Touchstone; directed by Paul Thomas and edited by Sonny Malone
In AVN Awards 2006, the remake dominated the Film category, winning Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Film, Best Supporting Actress and Best All-Girl Sex Scene.
Related works
The initial suicide scene is reminiscent of two films:
- La Noire de..." (Black Girl', by Ousmane Sembene of Senegal, in which a despondent African servant cuts her wrists with her French employer's straight razor.
- The Godfather, Part II, in which mobster Frank Pentangeli, cuts his wrists with a simple double edged razor blade (like Justine Jones), before his schduled testimony against Michael Corleone. Only his dead body is shown, not the cutting. Much blood, but no bleeding.
Justine Jones's death is shown more graphically, with the cutting so clear one asks how the special-effects people could ever fake this. One is surprised that Georgina Spelvin lived to make the rest of the movie.
The ending is reminiscent of Sartre's play "No Exit". As Sartre says, "You don't need red-hot pokers: Hell is other people."
References
Modern porn's first double penetration
External links
- A detailed review with some photos
- 2006 Collector's Edition 2-Disc DVD product page at VCX
- 1973 Original Edition DVD product page at VCX
- 2005 New Devil In Miss Jones remake official Vivid Entertainment site
- Virginia Adult Store Owners Indicted for Obscenity ( “The Devil in Miss Jones") *
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