The 50th anniversary of Jaws is on Friday.It is still one of the most cherished and frequently re-watched films ever made. However, how well-versed are you in the myths surrounding Steven Spielberg’s masterwork from 1975?
See how much you know about Jaws by reading on.
In honor of his lawyer, Bruce Ramer, Spielberg christened his mechanical shark Bruce.
Peter Benchley had to decide on a title for his 1974 book before it went to press. He has tried a number of titles, including Silent Fall and Leviathan Rising, before deciding on Jaws at the last minute. What was meant by it? Although it was brief, Benchley admitted to his editor that he wasn’t sure.
The illustration of the rising shark was taken from the cover of the paperback edition of the book, which was created by Roger Kastel. In order to photograph a great white shark from a diorama that was resting on an easel for his painting, Kastel traveled to the American Museum of Natural History.
Spielberg filmed Jawson Martha’s Vineyard off Cape Cod, while Benchley’s story was inspired by the nearby island of Nantucket. He and his father had gone fishing there. The book’s fictional Amity is located on Long Island’s south shore.
Dick Richards was originally slated to direct the movie, but according to producer Richard D. Zanuck, he was fired after repeatedly calling the shark a whale during a meeting.
26.
Spielberg chose Roy Scheider over Charlton Heston to play the police chief of Amity Island.
The orca. Not coincidence, a killer whale copycat called Orca was produced in 1977, two years after Jaws’ enormous popularity.
water with salt. The Atlantic Ocean’s salt water would corrode the shark, which special effects artist Bob Mattey had constructed, rendering it useless at certain points, especially in the early stages of filming. In the end, Spielberg’s decision to forego showing the shark until much later in the movie resulted in a much more thrilling movie. Spielberg once calculated that Bruce’s mechanical setbacks increased the film’s box office receipts by $175 million.
We don’t actually see the shark until one hour and twenty-one minutes into the film.
Schieder adlibbed, no. You will require a larger boat. But according to screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, the sentence had been circulating on the set. The crew frequently thought that producers weren’t spending enough money on the size of the barge that carried equipment and craft services. In 2016, Gottlieb told The Hollywood Reporter: “You’re going to need a bigger boat” became a catchphrase for any time something went wrong, like if lunch was late or the waves were shaking the camera.
The USS Indianapolis was sunk during World War II after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Spielberg claims that the uncredited screenwriter John Milius wrote Quint’s long and memorable speech in the movie, which wasn’t in the book. Spielberg desired an explanation for Quint’s intense dislike of sharks. Although there has been ongoing discussion over the years regarding the authorship of the monologue, it is generally accepted that Shaw synthesized it and is mostly responsible for the scene’s impact.
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Although the director isn’t physically present in the movie, his voice is audible. Spielberg’s voice can be heard on the radio as Quint prepares the harpoon in the movie’s climax. “This is the Amity Point light-station to Orca,” he continues. Enter, Orca. Spielberg also appears in a few different ways. He performs a little piece on Williams’ score while in high school as a clarinetist. Spielberg’s cocker spaniels, Zalman and Elmer, were also Brody’s canines. (Benchley, for his part, appears as a TV reporter during the beach scene on July 4.)
Despite having a 55-day timeline, the production took 159 days to finish. In addition, the budget almost increased to $9 million, plus an additional $3 million for post-production. Despite becoming the model summer film, Jaws was initially anticipated to debut around Christmas the previous year.
Jaws received a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America despite some criticism. There was no PG-13 rating at the time. (That only started with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984; the new category was created by a few additional Spielberg films, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Gremlins.) The MPAA’s then-president, Jack Valenti, defended the rating by claiming that Jaws featured violence from nature rather than from humans. This type of brutality is similar to that found in Hansel and Gretel. Youngsters may mimic other forms of violence, but not the kind seen in Jaws.
The warning on the movie poster read: MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN.
Jaws received three Oscars—best sound, best editing, and best score for John Williams—out of four nominations. However, there was a lot of rivalry for best photo. In addition to Jaws, the candidates included Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, and Barry Lyndon. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest emerged victorious.
