Classic Movie Pick: ‘Jaws’ Is A Pillar of Cinema History That Still Is Just As Suspenseful As It Is Influential

Half a century later, Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” delivers the same intoxicating thrills that made a generation of movie-goers second-guess if they wanted to go for a swim upon their next visit to the beach.

For this week’s classic pic, we take a horrifying trip down memory lane —50 years down memory lane to Martha’s Vineyard, which provided the location for the fictional town of Amity, N.Y. Have you guessed what the film is yet? Of course, I’m talking about the summer classic “Jaws”, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The film does not waste time getting to the meat of the story, and neither does the shark who attacks a woman taking a late-night swim in the film’s first scene. Following the gruesome discovery of the remains, Police Chief Brody, played by actor Roy Schieder, immediately tries to close the beaches, but the mayor of Amity is worried it will cost the community much-needed tourism dollars. Shark specialist and expert, Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss, arrives hoping to lend his expertise on how to go about catching the shark, which is estimated to be 25-feet long and, in addition to the late-night swimmer, kills a young boy and a boater. 

This duo soon becomes a trio when the volatile Captain Quint, played by Robert Shaw, joins the team. The three set out to sea hoping to kill the shark, but at times, come close to killing each other. 

The film put a 28-year-old Steven Spielberg on the map as a director. “Jaws” received critical praise and became the highest grossing film ever in less than three months of its release in the summer of 1975. The film is considered the first ever summer blockbuster and changed the course of Hollywood as a result. Spielberg earned his chops as he encountered challenge after challenge, including a mechanical shark that rarely worked — thanks to shooting the movie at sea — and pressure from Universal Studios when the production went way past the allotted amount of shooting days.

Actor Robert Shaw is rumored to have driven Spielberg crazy as well. Shaw had a drinking problem and he could get belligerent with cast and crew, which put even more on the young director’s plate.

Even though the director wanted to use lesser-known actors, Lee Marvin was Spielberg’s first choice to play the role of Quint. Marvin told him he would rather go fishing, not sure if pun was intended. Lots of thought was given to casting Charlton Heston as Chief Brody. And as for Hooper, the production considered Jeff Bridges, Jon Voight and Jan Michael Vincent — there’s a name from the past.

Another fun casting fact: It was actor Robert Duvall who helped convince his friend Spielberg to make the film. As a result, Steven offered his pal the part of Brody, but Duvall turned it down because he thought it would make him too famous. Duvall asked if he could play Quint, but Spielberg said he was too young. And speaking of Quint, his boat is called “The Orca”. Orcas, or killer whales, are the only known predator of, you guessed it, great white sharks.

As much as the shark, even 50 years later, looks realistic, it gave the production fits on set. The end result was just fine, but the mechanical shark rarely worked. Spielberg and his team referred to the shark as Bruce, which was named after Spielberg’s lawyer. Get it? The film was shot on Martha’s Vineyard, which provided the perfect location for Amity, N.Y. Spielberg shot about 1/4 of the film at water level to give viewers a treading water perspective. He also did a lot of handheld camera work to get the same viewer point of view. 

Helping make this film iconic is an incredible score by legendary composer John Williams, who over his lengthy career has racked up 54 Oscar nominations and five wins. When Williams first played the iconic score for Spielberg, the director laughed and said, “No, really, what were you thinking?” Spielberg totally changed gears and years later said without Williams’ contributions, the film might’ve only been half as popular as it was. 

And in keeping with the tradition of “Jaws” making you too scared to go in the water for the last 50 years, here’s a reminder that the source material, Peter Benchley’s book, was inspired by shark attacks in 1916 which took place in a creek in New Jersey several miles inland … in freshwater! That’s right — certain sharks can live in freshwater.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, folks, and check out the re-release of “Jaws” in celebration of its 50th anniversary, in theaters Aug. 29 through Sept. 4, and it’s this week’s “Classic Movie Pick” of the week.

Editor’s note: For more movie and entertainment talk, join Pete Schwaba weeknights from 6-8 p.m. for “Nite Lite” here on the Civic Media radio network.