What really happened to Miss Jonas (3 Stars)

This is a very strange film. It was made as a sequel to "The Devil in Miss Jonas", but for the first 40 minutes I couldn't see any connection between the two films, apart from the fact that the main character in both films is Christa Free.

Mr. Laroche, a wealthy Swiss businessman, sees a photo of a nude girl in the magazine Daily Girl. (Did that magazine really exist in Switzerland in 1974?) He's so fascinated by her beauty that he hires a private detective, Jim Bent, to track her down. He pays 50,000 francs for his services.

Jim's first visit is to the magazine's photographer, who claims that he can't remember her, because he's photographed so many girls. In a flashback scene we see that he's lying. The girl seduced him and begged him to make her the magazine centerfold. He was totally infatuated with her, but she left him when she got what she wanted. Luckily, another model overhears the conversation and tells Jim that she knows the girl. Her name is Christa Lindberger, and she shares an apartment with a friend of hers.

Jim arrives too late to find Christa. She's just moved out. Her room mate complains that Christa used to have sex with a different man every night. He continues to pursue her, always arriving too late, after she's already left. His last visit is to a nude review, where she used to perform as a dancer. More flashbacks. He meets a man who tells her that he got Christa a job in a big film.

And the film is "The Devil in Miss Jonas". There's the connection at last, on a meta level! Now we finally catch up with her activities. Her agent advises her to sleep with the film's producer to get the lead role.

This is where the film gets amusing. We see her rolling in bed with the film producer. He isn't named, but it's easy to recognise the actor. It's Erwin C. Dietrich himself. As soon as he leaves the room she holds a monologue about him being a loser and she can get whatever she wants from him. Next on the list of men to sleep with is the director. We don't see the director, which is just as well, because Erwin C. Dietrich was both producer and director for "The Devil in Miss Jonas".

There are many meta film elements. We see Christa talking to the cast members of "The Devil in Miss Jonas". Of note is that the film crew say that Lindberger is too difficult to remember as a name. She should change her name to Christa Free to be sure of lasting fame.

Jim Bent finds Christa and proclaims his love for her, refusing to introduce her to Mr. Laroche. The film ends with a strange scene. After watching the film in a cinema, Christa is disappointed that her real voice wasn't used in the film. Her voice was dubbed by Beate Hasenau. She visits a voice coach to learn how to speak better. The voice coach is eccentric, running around his room like a fool. I don't see the least point in this scene, it should have been cut.

I like the concept behind the film. Films about films are always good. It's all about the shifting layers of reality. Erwin C. Dietrich is using "What really happened to Miss Jonas" to make fun of himself. Apart from Christa calling him a loser, another actress calls the unseen director an idiot. This all promises a great film. Unfortunately, it's too chaotic, and there are too many unnecessary subplots. There was no need to include a detective in the story, and definitely no need for a voice coach.