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9/10
Truly hot classic of German porn.
HumanoidOfFlesh11 May 2007
"Sensational Janine" is one of the best porno movies I have seen.The film is narrated by Janine as she discusses her humble beginnings and her rise to become one of the top courtesans the world has ever seen.In her youth times she has oral sex with her brother and loses her virginity to the delivery boy.Her sexual awakening is insatiable and she becomes a nymphomaniac...First of all I'm a rabid fan of horror/exploitation cinema.I prefer my porn mixed with horror.However "Sensational Janine" blew me away.The film contains lots of steamy sex scenes that are extremely titillating.They are explicit,but never become dull.Patricia Rhomberg in the lead is amazing.She is cute and charismatic and has a wonderful body.So if you are a fan of old-fashioned porn without ugly silicone enhanced porn starlets give it a look.9 out of 10.I had a great time watching this XXX classic.
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8/10
The crème de la crème of adult cinema!
The_Void8 September 2008
Sensational Janine is a high quality, plot-driven porn film; and it stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of the genre. 'High Quality' is not a term usually associated with adult films; but it can certainly be applied here as this film is extremely well made and that's one of the things that help it stand out so much. The plot line is very interesting also and the central character is very easy to get along with, which ensures that the film draws you in thanks to the interesting story and not just the sex. As the title suggests, we focus on a young girl named Janine (actually, Josefine) as she goes from being a sweet virgin to a sex hungry Madame. We follow her as she gets her first sexual awakening (watching her parents having sex and later getting it on with her step brother). From there she begins to get more and more curious; and luckily for her, she just so happens to live in a den of iniquity so finding men to practice with isn't difficult, and she's a very willing student...

The sex scenes in this film really are excellent and the fact that they are featured numerously is a big help to the overall success of the film. Most of the runtime is taken up with sex, but unlike some of the lesser genre examples; each individual sequence here is long enough to get the point across, but doesn't outstay its welcome. They're also very erotic! The lead role is taken by Patricia Rhomberg; and she is just as sensational as the character she's playing. She is perhaps not a natural beauty, but the buxom maiden is very sexy and manages to get both the curiosity and innocence of her character across as well. Another thing that sets this film apart from much of the rest of the genre is the fact that most of the main characters are 'normal' people rather than all-out porn stars, and that does make the film feel a lot more realistic. The film does have a very arty feel to it, but this shouldn't be enough to put anyone off as director Hans Billian ensures that the film is very accessible. Overall, Sensational Janine is an absolute classic of adult cinema and should not be missed by anyone. HIGHLY recommended!
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9/10
This is a great piece of Classic Porn
sexyhard24 December 2008
The movie was originally released in Germany as “Josefine Mutzenbacher - Wie sie wirklich”, and is based on a classic piece of German erotica. It’s the story of the sexual awakening of Josefine Mutzenbacher, but in the English version, she is called Janine.

Janine is played by Patricia Rhomberg. This is the only movie she appeared in which was made available in English. The film is dubbed, but the quality of the dubbing is excellent, and you quickly forget that the actors are not the ones really talking. Miss Rhomberg doesn’t have classic porn star looks, her breasts are lovely but droop slightly, and she has a full bush, but she has a beautiful face with long brown hair, a youthful ass, and she seems to love having sex.

Patricia Rhomberg gives one of the great performances in porn history. If you like watching porn from the golden age, before breast implants, before shaved pussies, and before actresses signed contracts limiting how many sex scenes they would do, then you have to check out this movie.

To read more, see my complete review (including softcore pictures) at AdultDVDtalk.
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10/10
Porn Perfection?
markaocon17 June 2009
Dare I say it, but this is probably one of the best porn movies on the planet. OK, it's dubbed, but it's done well. There are plentiful scenes and it doesn't drag like a lot of modern movies. The story works well and builds and builds up so you had better invest in some Kleenex cos you won't make it through the first half hour without popping at least once.

The sets, costumes, lighting and locations are great and the girls are downright dirty and sexy. I wish modern directors would watch this to show how a good porno film should be done.

The themes are quite strong, which is what makes it good. It goes into adult carnal fantasies that are extreme, but never try and gross you out.

All in all the film has great humour and is sooooo sexy I doubt that there is anything of this quality on the market today.
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10/10
first and best mutzenbacher... with great Rhomberg!
imdb_id8 May 2003
This is one of the best adult films ever. you have a perfect combination: Billian as an experienced director (who sees himself as something more than a gynecologist with a camera), brilliant Rhomberg with self-confidence and enthusiasm, the year 1975 and -at least some- money. as mentioned in other comments, this movie looks quite real. which means you have male actors around their fourties, female actors with no shaving/silicon and scenes without prolonged and extreme closeups of moving (body)parts... but also the fun they have seems to look more real.
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10/10
Perhaps the Best Adult Film Ever
huckfunn24 June 2003
X-rated "Sensational Janine" is a must-see/must-own for any lover of "old" ('60s/'70s) erotica. It is the best-known (only-known?) film in the USA by talented German director Hans Billian.

It has EVERYTHING (almost): an interesting and followable story supposedly based on the real life of a famous Viennese prostitute (followed by 'Professional Janine,' a classic in its own right, but with a different actress playing Janine) ... a jaw-droppingly beautiful star (Patricia Rhomberg -- would love to see how she turned out in middle age), her ripe body oozing sexuality in every scene ... male actors who look like regular guys (not gym-rat studs) ... brother-sister sex ... stepfather-stepdaughter sex ... landlady-boarder sex ... sex-with-the-horny-bitch-from-the-alley sex ... priest-penitent sex ... take-me-when-I'm-sleeping sex ... threesomes ... foursomes ... voyeurism ... masturbation ... light S&M ... hand-jobs ... blow-jobs ... lingerie modeling ... in fact just about every kind of sex except anal and animal. Gee, I wonder if Russ Meyer had a hand in making this?

Production values are high, visibility very good, and the pacing and editing commendable. There is wit and snap to the dubbed dialog. Ex: Janine is spying on her mother and a boarder who are shtumping.

Mother: 'We must hurry. Janine will be home any minute.'

Boarder: 'I'm sure Janine knows what it's all about.'

Mother: 'No, I'm sure she's a virgin.'

Janine (to herself): 'Not for long, Mother. I can tell you that.'

As mentioned by another reviewer, the women are refreshingly all-natural, with unshaved bodies. Everyone in the film seems to be enjoying with abandon the greatest gift Mother Nature has bestowed. Rhomberg is so beguiling and charismatic that I'm sure she could have been a star in mainstream films here and overseas if she had been so inclined.

"Sensational Janine" truly is a feel-good movie that some connoisseurs of erotica consider the best adult feature film ever made.
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10/10
a must see!!!
infotoc20 November 2006
Actually the movie is superb! in my point of view, and after reviewing hundreds of porn movie, i can say and without any reservation, that this movie is the best. the story of the movie as well as the script are very well done, the film is comic and is highly recommended for couples, it may even be shown in theaters since all the sex scenes are decent, there is no disgusting scenes like todays movies. the film is done with high proficiency and the selection of the actresses and actors was indeed perfect. The story is about a young lovely girl who discovers her sexuality and start having sex with men. she actually ends up having an affair with her step father (after the death of her mother in the hospital). Later on she became a hooker.
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Patricia Romberg is sensational, too; don't miss this one!
rduchmann29 May 2005
Outstanding European XXX tells the early years of Josephine Mutzenbacher (Janine in US version), Viennese courtesan of c1890. Here she starts off as mischievous virgin and never does quite reach pro ranks, with in medias res ending that sets up the sequel. The story falters a bit here and there, but lead work by Patricia Romberg is completely winning. She seems to be having a good time throughout and is perhaps the most adorable hardcore starlet of all time.

Porn sequences are shorter, and more numerous, than in the average US film, and are well staged by director Hans Billian. Several sequels have been made but all are inferior to the original, not least because Rhomberg did not appear in any of them.

Biggest drawback is that many of the cast are unusually *old* to be working in porno and are not particularly attractive. Janine's mother and stepfather, who both have several XXX scenes, appear to be in their 50s. The priest who hears Janine's confession (there is a touch of anti-clericalism here) looks even older, though it's not clear how much of his own stuntwork he actually does, due to editing. Most of the featured males have the mien of drug-dealing pimps.

Film would have been much more enjoyable had the knockout Romberg been teamed with a cast more on her own physical level, but she does keep that sweet smile shining throughout. Even dubbed, as here, she's a total charmer and is enough reason all by herself to watch this film.
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10/10
The World's Oldest Profession
Nodriesrespect29 May 2009
Published anonymously in the early days of last century, the alleged memoirs of Viennese courtesan Josefine Mutzenbacher ("as told by herself") are rightfully considered as classic erotic literature. Erotic, yes, since as soon as a cultural pedigree's attached to masturbatory material – the novel has been attributed to Austrian children's author Felix Salten who wrote "Bambi" and "Perri", both adapted by Disney ! – it turns erotic rather than just plain pornographic. Surely the latter would be a more accurate description for Mutzenbacher's non-stop detailed accounts of amorous exploits, littered with close to 400 (yes, someone actually bothered to count !) synonyms for the male member. Kurt Nachmann's soft-core adaptation from 1970, starring subsequent TV mainstay Christine Schuberth, proved popular enough to spawn an equally successful sequel. When hardcore became legally available and socially acceptable in German-speaking countries, it was time to return to the source for producer Gunter Otto who had been dabbling in saucy sex comedies of the LIEBESGRÜSSE AUS DER LEDERHOSE variety. This time, the concept would sprout wings and soar. Box office was booming. It was as if the porn-hungry public breathed a collective sigh of relief now that their explicit entertainment had been spruced up with elaborate period costumes and the artistic credibility supplied by its liberally adapted literary origins, not unlike the effect the Mitchell Brothers had achieved with their AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FLEA.

A veteran of simulated sex farces like DIE JUNGFRAUEN VON BUMSHAUSEN a/k/a RUN, VIRGIN, RUN and the Sybil Danning starring DAS MÄDCHEN MIT DER HEISSEN MASCHE a/k/a LOVES OF A FRENCH PUSSYCAT, director Hans Billian (who died a couple of years ago) was already pushing 60 when he instigated a series of intimate cinematic explorations of his gorgeous girlfriend Patricia Rhomberg, then in her early twenties. A dedicated medical assistant who would return to the profession following their break-up, she transcended all possible accusations of nepotism through commanding screen presence and considerable thespian prowess supplementing her ample physical charms. Although she would sadly essay the plum role of Josefine Mutzenbacher only one, supplanted by a variety of dirty movie damsels (amongst whom the delightful Uschi Karnat a/k/a "Sandra Nova" rates as the most memorable) on subsequent sequels, she remains the definitive interpreter of the part for the majority of adult aficionados.

Looking back on a life filled with richly rewarded copulation, fancy prostitute Josefine Mutzenbacher relates her humble beginnings. Watching hunky beer delivery man Horak (beefy blond Siggi Buchner, who would return in several of the sequels and bid his fornication film farewell with Walter Molitor's INSIDE MARILYN in 1985) plow into her inn keeper neighbor Frau Rheintaler, a voluptuous middle-aged blonde familiar from early '70s Tabu loops, stirs hitherto unknown feelings in our wide-eyed 17 year old heroine who quickly decides she must have Horak for herself. He will prove but the first in a long line of casual conquests that take young Josefine to the pinnacle of her profession. Getting a little too close to her precocious stepbrother and supplying early morning relief for lodger Eckhard (Sepp Gneissl, who was in Billian's ROSEMARIES SCHLECKERLAND) gets her into the kind of trouble she has to go and confess to the local priest (former TV thespian Peter Holzmüller, also in Billian's BIENENSTICH IM LIEBESNEST, and fairly obviously body doubled for his sex scene), whose easily ignited passions allow for the obligatory stab at the clergy, common to pornography penned prior to World War II.

The untimely death of her mother leaves Josefine to take her place in the bed of her stepfather, indelibly portrayed by the already mature Frithjof Klausen, who would still turn up a decade later in Michel Barny's TERESA THE WOMAN WHO LOVES MEN ! The build-up to this undoubtedly frowned upon "transgression" makes for titillation of the most exquisite kind, from dad's drunk admiration of the sleeping girl's naked form to furtive caresses and way beyond. Unfortunately for the inter-generational love birds, their new boarder finds out and blackmails them into a sexual free for all with seasoned prostitute Zenzi, a rare hardcore appearance by Marie-France Morel from Jean Rollin's TOUT LE MONDE IL EN A DEUX. It's the latter's chosen career that starts putting ideas in young Josefine's head…

Though sequels would prove progressively lavish in accordance with their impressive box office takes, none of them could convincingly recapture the charm and good-natured depravity of the original. Much of this is down to Rhomberg, who approaches each carnal obstacle on her "road to ruin" with curiosity and infectious enthusiasm. The movie looks good, capably photographed by Otto, but lacks the elaborate crowd scenes that were to become the series' staple ingredient. There's an appropriately jaunty Wiener Kaffee soundtrack by Dave Apfelbaum. Credits are sparse but Josefine's best friend Maresi is played by Birgit Zamulo who was in Johnny Wyder's EIN GUTER HAHN WIRD SELTEN FETT a/k/a ALL AROUND SERVICE and the chubby blond model with the photographer is Christine Szenetra, star of several SCHOOLGIRL REPORTS. The Mutzenbacher series would continue well into the '90s with Otto still churning out modern dress installments, changing the subtitle to WIE SIE HEUTE WAR ("as she would be now"), before turning his attentions towards Johanna Spyri's squeaky clean mountain chick Heidi for the remainder of the last millennium.
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10/10
Natural girls in a funny hardcore movie
Benelli-37 February 2004
One of the best and funniest hardcore movies I have watched. The girls are natural and seem to act with their hearts. Music is from old good Vienna and on the whole there is a nice Viennese touch of Gemüt over the movie. Nothing for Sunday schóol of course - but ...
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4/10
Rhombach is hot, but the story is not memorable at all
Horst_In_Translation17 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Josefine Mutzenbacher - Wie sie wirklich war: 1. Teil" is a West German German-language movie from 1976, so this one has its 40th anniversary this year. The director and writer is Hans Billian and after having seen this and another work from him I must say he is better than most other porn film makers. Much better. And even if I enjoyed "Kasimir der Kuckuckskleber" more than this film here, I must say this most known work from the Mutzenbacher film series was also above average for a porn movie. The title states and many people say that this is the first, but this is not really true as there was already a Mutzenbacher film from 1970 that many may have gotten mixed up with this one here, but it is a different project made by other people and also starring somebody else as the title character. About this one here, the lead actress is Patricia Rhomberg and she is pretty stunning. Sadly, the same is not really true about most of the other cast members in here. She brings the hotness and Sepp Gneissl, who plays one of the male protagonists beings the fun, at least occasionally as he is a decent comedic actor in terms of line delivery. As a whole, like I already said, it was definitely above-average for a porn film, also because of costumes etc. But it also needs to be noted that the 8.0 this film has here on IMDb that would almost be enough for making it to the top250 films if it had more ratings is ridiculously overrated. It is still not a good film and the script is pretty weak for the most part. No interesting or entertaining story is told and I am baffled how much other reviewers praise the film. You should not really compare it to other porn movies, but to other movies in general as IMDb is not a porn movie database. This is also why I do not recommend the watch and I don't think any of the sequels (look at the title) are really justified. At least, I have no interest to watch them. I give this "first" Mutzenbacher film a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
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Awesome euro-sleaze-fest
GIALLO-118 April 2007
I feel that the previous user's comments about this film are without erotic merit. The whole idea of the cast being much older and a little less flattering to look at only add to the lewd-titillating- charm of this fine production. Awesomly rare to find on VHS and sadly enough , the USA print is actually longer then the recently released euro-pal-DVD.Try finding the uncut print in all it's glory under the USA title: Sensational Janine.You might be able to find a collectors DVD-r on ebay ! Good luck in your search as I've only seen one copy (original) in 11 yrs. of scouring ma n pa video stores, most are extinct at this point. This original was the best in a series that ran 3 more sequels, none really capturing the feel of this one!
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9/10
Sensational ... and insatiable!
Coventry30 May 2023
Times have changed! There are many examples to illustrate how heavily times have changed, but probably the best one is the evolution of porno movies! I honestly cannot believe that nowadays, the craziest and most explicit types of pornography are freely and openly available on the Internet. Back when yours truly was a horny teenager free pornography wasn't all over the Internet - heck, there wasn't even "The Internet" - and the only possibility for young brats like me to check out boobies and a little bit of bush was to snoop around in our parents' video collection. That's how I discovered "Josefine Mützenbacher". I must have seen this movie over 30 times, and particular highlight sequences more than 100 times, and each time I carefully rewound the tape to the point where I started so that my dad wouldn't find out. Ah, glory days!

And pardon me for saying, but the Internet may be overflooding with adult material these days, but in this genre, you will NEVER find a movie as excellent as "Josefine Mützenbacher"! This classic has literally everything you could possibly seek: beautiful and 200% natural actresses, a good story, genuine comedy, and steaming hot sex sequences that last just long enough. The amazing Patricia Rhomberg is fantastic as titular Josefine, a curious but inexperienced girl who gradually discovers the pleasures of sex and loves it so much that she's a happy prostitute by the end of the film. It's an indescribably joyful and contagiously optimistic sex-adventure that simply nobody with a heartbeat and a pulse can resist. Josefine is even a pioneer! All those obscene nowadays trends, like sharing the bed with stepfathers and siblings, already feature here in this 70s landmark.
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