Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 c Hooper: I`m not going to waste my time arguing with a man who`s lining up to be a hot lunch.
Quint: Y`all know me. Know how I earn a livin`. I`ll catch this bird for you, but it ain`t gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin` bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin`, little tenderizin`, an` down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that`ll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin` basis. But it`s not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I`ll find him for three, but I`ll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you`ve gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don`t want no volunteers, I don`t want no mates, there`s just too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.
Quint: This shark, swallow you whole.
Mayor Vaughn: Fellows, let`s be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish... And I`m not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.
Mayor Vaughn: Martin, it`s all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we`ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.
Hooper: You were on the Indianapolis?
Brody: What happened?
Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin` back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn`t see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you`re in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn`t know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn`t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin`, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin` and hollerin` and screamin` and sometimes the shark go away... but sometimes he wouldn`t go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he`s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll`s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn`t seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin`. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin` and the hollerin`, they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don`t know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain`s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he`d been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin` for my turn. I`ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.
Quint: [the Orca, their boat, is clearly sinking with water all over the deck, Quint hands Brody a small hand pump] Pump it out Chief!
Hooper: [Hooper attempts to wet his mask before Quint and Brody lower him in the shark cage] I got no spit.
[Hooper is examining the remains of the first victim - describes the post-mortem into his tape recorder]
Hooper: The height and weight of the victim can only be estimated from the partial remains. The torso has been severed in mid-thorax; there are no major organs remaining...
Hooper: Right arm has been severed above the elbow with massive tissue loss in the upper musculature... partially denuded bone remaining...
Hooper: [to the m.e. and Brody] This was no boat accident!
Hooper: [to Brody] Did you notify the Coast Guard about this?
Brody: No. It was only local jurisdiction.
Hooper: [continues post-mortem] The left arm, head, shoulders, sternum and portions of the rib cage are intact...
Hooper: [to Brody] Do not smoke in here, thank you very much.
Hooper: [lifts up the severed arm] This is what happens. It indicates the non-frenzied feeding of a large squalus - possibly Longimanus or Isurus glauca. Now... the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any detailed analysis; however the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters. Didn`t you get on a boat and check out these waters?
Brody: No.
Hooper: Well, this is not a boat accident! And it wasn`t any propeller; and it wasn`t any coral reef; and it wasn`t Jack the Ripper! It was a shark.
Brody: Is it true that most people get attacked by sharks in three feet of water about ten feet from the beach?
Hooper: Yeah.
Brody: And that... and that before people started to swim for recreation - I mean before sharks knew what they were missing - that a lot of these attacks weren`t reported?
Hooper: That`s right.
Brody: Now this shark that... that... that swims alone...
Hooper: Rogue.
Brody: What`s it called?
Hooper, Brody: [together] Rogue.
Brody: Rogue, yeah. Now this guy, he... he keeps swimmin` around in a place where the feeding is good until the food supply is gone, right?
Hooper: It`s called "territoriality". It`s just a theory that I happen to... agree with.
Brody: Then why don`t we have one more drink and go down and cut that shark open?
Ellen Brody: Martin? Can you do that?
Brody: I can do anything; I`m the chief of police.
Ben Gardner: When we get them silly bastards down in that rock pile, it`ll be some fun, they`ll wish their fathers had never met their mothers. When they start takin` their bottoms out and slamming into them rocks, boy! Get away from there, ya goddamn fool, you! What`s the matter with you? You wanna swamp us, ya crazy son of a bitch?
Hooper: Hello.
Ben Gardner: Hello back... young feller. How are ya? Say I hope you not going out with those nuts, are ya?
Christine `Chrissie` Watkins: Come on into the water!
[first lines]
Tom Cassidy: What`s your name again?
Christine `Chrissie` Watkins: Chrissie.
Tom Cassidy: Where are we going?
Christine `Chrissie` Watkins: Swimming
Ellen Brody: [to Chief Brody] You told me the shark was caught. And I, I heard it on the news... I heard it on the Cape station.
Hooper: They caught A shark, not THE shark. Big difference. Not the shark that killed Chrissie Watkins... and probably not the shark that killed the little boy... which I wanted to prove today, by cutting the shark open...
[sees the Chief pouring the wine he brought]
Hooper: you know, you oughta let that breathe a little
[sees the massive glass the Chief has poured]
Hooper: - nothing, nothing!
[last lines]
Brody: What day is this?
Hooper: It`s Wednesday... eh, it`s Tuesday, I think.
Brody: Think the tide`s with us?
Hooper: Keep kicking.
Brody: I used to hate the water...
Hooper: I can`t imagine why.
Mayor Vaughn: And what did you say the name of this shark is?
Hooper: It`s a carcaradon carcharias. It`s a Great White
Quint: [before leaving dock] Break it up will ya`, Chief! Daylight`s wastin`.
Quint: [trying to hurry Brody into the boat] Come on Chief, this isn`t no boy scout picnic. See ya` got ya` rubbers!
[Quint laughs wildly]
Quint: [talking Brody through making knots] Little brown eel comes out of the cave... Swims into the hole... Comes out of the hole... Goes back into the cave again... It`s not too good is it Chief?
[Refering to Brody`s messed up knot]
Hooper: [motioning to Brody to get closer to the barrels] Come on Martin! Move, move, move!
Brody: I`m not going out there!
Hooper: Beyond the edge of the barrels, go to the end of the barrels! Further out!
Brody: What?
Hooper: Further out!
Brody: Why?
Hooper: Go further out!
Brody: What for?
Hooper: Will you go to the end of the pulpit, please?
Brody: What?
Hooper: Will you just please go to the end of the pulpit!
Brody: What for?
Hooper: I need to have something in the foreground to give it some scale.
Brody: Foreground, my ass!
Hooper: He ate the light.
Hooper: Ha, ha - they`re all gonna die.
Hooper: That`s a twenty footer.
Quint: Twenty-five. Three tons of him.
Hooper: This was no boat accident.
Quint: You have city hands, Mr. Hooper. You been countin` money all your life.
Hooper: All right, all right. Hey, I don`t need this... I don`t need this working-class-hero crap.
Brody: You`re gonna need a bigger boat.
Brody: It doesn`t make any sense when you pay a guy like you to watch sharks.
Hooper: Well, uh, it doesn`t make much sense for a guy who hates the water to live on an island either.
Brody: It`s only an island if you look at it from the water.
Hooper: That makes a lot of sense.
Ellen Brody: [upon meeting Matt Hooper] My husband tells me you`re in sharks.
Mayor Vaughn: I don`t think either of one you are familiar with our problems.
Hooper: I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and BITES YOU ON THE ASS!
Quint: Here`s to swimmin` with bow-legged women.
Quint: Here lies the body of Mary Lee; died at the age of a hundred and three. For fifteen years she kept her virginity; not a bad record for this vicinity.
Quint: Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him.
Brody: "Slow ahead." I can go slow ahead. Come on down here and chum some of this shit.
Brody: Smile you son of a BITCH.
[shoots at the air tank]
Brody: [Jaws blows up]
[Brody laughs manaically]
Mayor Vaughn: [to reporter] I`m pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it`s a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means "friendship".
Quint: [seeing Hooper`s equipment] What are you? Some kind of half-assed astronaut?
[examining the shark cage]
Quint: Jesus H Christ, when I was a boy, every little squirt wanted to be a harpooner or a sword fisherman. What d`ya have there - a portable shower or a monkey cage?
Hooper: Anti-Shark cage.
Quint: Anti-shark cage. You go inside the cage?
[Hooper nods]
Quint: Cage goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark`s in the water. Our shark.
[sings]
Quint: Farewell and adieu to you, fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu, you ladies of Spain. For we`ve received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again.
Quint: Front, bow. Back, stern. If ya don`t get it right, squirt, I throw your ass out the little round window on the side.
Ellen Brody: Martin hates boats. Martin hates water. Martin... Martin sits in his car when we go on the ferry to the mainland. I guess it`s a childhood thing. It`s a... there`s a clinical name for it isn`t there?
Brody: Drowning.
Hooper: Fast fish.
Brody: That`s some bad hat, Harry.
Quint: Hooper ya idiot. Starboard. Ain`t you watchin` it?
Pratt: [to Hooper] Ya know, I`m gonna stuff your friggin` head in there, man, and find out if it`s a man-eater, all right?
Brody: [Drunk] I`m tellin` ya, the crime rate in New York`ll kill you. There`s so many problems, you never feel like you`re accomplishing anything. Violence, rip-offs, muggings... kids can`t leave the house - you gotta walk them to school. But in Amity one man can make a difference. In twenty-five years, there`s never been a shooting or a murder in this town.
Hooper: Fascinating. Want a pretzel?
Brody: Where are we?
Mayor Vaughn: Any special questions?
Denherder: Uh, is that $3000 bounty on the shark in cash or check?
[the townspeople laugh]
Mrs. Taft: I don`t think that`s funny. I don`t think that`s funny at all, I`m sorry.
Hooper: Ah. Just like I thought... He came up with the Gulf Stream - from southern waters.
[he pulls a Louisiana license plate from the shark. Brody examines it]
Brody: He didn`t eat a car, did he?
Hooper: Naw, a tiger shark`s like a garbage can, it`ll eat anything. Someone probably threw that in a river.
Brody: What are you doing out there? These are your people - go and talk to them.
Hendricks: Those aren`t my people. They`re from all over the place. Did you see all the license plates out in the parking lot? Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey... I`m all by myself out there.
Quint: [Poking fun at Brody] Ah, the missus, Chief. If they don`t like you going out, they`ll love you comin` in.
[as Brody sends the air tanks flying]
Hooper: Dammit, Martin! This is compressed air!
Brody: Well, what the hell kind of a knot was that?
Hooper: You pulled the wrong one. You screw around with these tanks, and they`re gonna blow up!
Quint: Yeah, that`s real fine expensive gear you brought out here, Mr. Hooper. `Course I don`t know what that bastard shark`s gonna do with it, might eat it I suppose. Seen one eat a rockin` chair one time. Hey chieffy, next time you just ask me which line to pull, right?
Brody: Take this stuff back to the office and get to work on those signs. "Beaches Closed - No Swimming. By the Order of the Amity PD". And let Polly do the printing.
Hendricks: What`s the matter with my printing?
Brody: Let Polly do the printing.
Mayor Vaughn: I`m only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars. Now, if the people can`t swim here, they`ll be glad to swim at the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island...
Brody: That doesn`t mean we have to serve them up as smörgåsbord!
Hendricks: So then Denherder and Charlie sat there trying to catch their breath - and to figure out how to tell Charlie`s wife what happened to her freezer full of meat.
Brody: That`s not funny. That`s not funny at all.
Quint: [On radio] Your husband`s all right, Mrs. Brody. He`s fishing. He`s just caught a couple of stripers. We`ll bring `em in for dinner. We won`t be long, we haven`t seen anything yet. Over and out.
Brody: Yeah, but I`m not drunk enough to go out on a boat.
Hooper: Yes, you are.
Brody: No, I`m not.
Hooper: Yes, you are.
Brody: I can`t do that.
Hooper: Yes, you can.
Ellen Brody: Wanna get drunk and fool around?
Brody: Oh Yeah.
[about to go looking for the shark]
Brody: On the water?
Hooper: Well, if we`re looking for a shark we`re not gonna find him on the land.
Hooper: Boys, oh boys... I think he`s come back for his noon feeding.
Quint: [as he spots Hooper sitting on the deck playing solitaire] Stop playin` with yourself, Hooper.
Quint: [referring to a cut on Brody`s head] Chief... don`t you worry about it, Chief. It won`t be permanent. Wanna see somethin` permanent, boom-boom-boom?
[Quint pulls out a false front tooth and laughs]
Quint: Hey, Hoop, you wanna feel somethin` permanent? You just put your hand underneath my cap... and you just feel that little lump. Knock an ole un, St. Paddy`s day, Boston.
Hooper: I got that beat.
Hooper: [to Brody] I got that beat.
Quint: You wanna drink? Drink to your leg.
Hooper: I`ll drink to your leg.
Quint: Okay, so we drink to our legs!
[both laugh]
Hooper: [points to a scar on chest] Mary Ellen Moffat. She broke my heart.
[Hooper, Brody and Quint all laugh]
Hooper: [singing] Show me the way to go home / I`m tired and I want to go to bed...
Hooper, Quint, Brody: [all singing together] I had a little drink about an hour ago and it got right to my head / Wherever I may roam / by land or sea or foam...
Hooper: [trying to get the fishing line secure] It may be a marlin or a stingray... but it`s definitely a game fish.
[Hooper pulls as the lines snaps and he crashes his head into the wall]
Quint: [picking up the line] Gamin` fish, eh? Marlin? Stingray? Bit through this piano wire? Don`t you tell me my business again! You get back on the bridge...
Hooper: Quint, that doesn`t prove a damn thing!
Quint: Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don`t have the education enough to admit when you`re wrong.
[Quint enters the cabin as Hooper makes faces at him]
Brody: [following Quint inside the boat] What`s the point? Hooks and lines...
Quint: [slams on the roof at Hooper] Hooper! 12 minutes south south east now, full throttle!
Hooper: [Mocking Pirate Voice] Aye, aye, sir! AYE JIMBOY ARAGHHH!
Quint: [to Brody] See what I do, Chief, is I trick `em to the surface. And I jab at `em. I`m not gonna haul `em up like a lot of catfish.
[slams on the roof]
Quint: Hooper, full throttle!
Hooper: [voice imitating W. C. Fields] I don`t have to take this abuse much longer!
Quint: Hooper, what exactly can you do with these things of yours?
Hooper: Well, I think I can pump 20 cc`s of strictnine nitrate into him, if I can get close enough.
Quint: Can you get this little needle through his skin?
Hooper: No, I can`t do that. But if I can get him close enough to this cage, I think that I can get him in the mouth or the eye...
Brody: That shark will rip that cage to pieces!
Hooper: [shouting] YOU GOT ANY BETTER SUGGESTIONS?
Ellen Brody: You see the kids?
Brody: [looking out the window] They must be in the back yard.
Ellen Brody: In Amity, you say "yahd".
Brody: [starting out of the bedroom, speaking with a bad New-England accent] They`re in the "yahd", not too "fah" from the "cah".
[looks back at Ellen]
Brody: How`s that?
Ellen Brody: Like you`re from New York.
Christine `Chrissie` Watkins: GOD HELP ME, PLEEEAAAAASE!
Brody: You`re certifiable, Quint! You know that?
Quint: Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Mrs. Kintner: Chief Brody?
Brody: Yes?
[Mrs. Kintner slaps Brody and sobs]
Mrs. Kintner: I just found out, that a girl got killed here last week, and you knew it! You knew there was a shark out there! You knew it was dangerous! But you let people go swimming anyway? You knew all those things! But still my boy is dead now. And there`s nothing you can do about it. My boy is dead. I wanted you to know that.
[Mrs. Kintner walks away]
Mayor Vaughn: I`m sorry, Martin. She`s wrong.
Brody: No, she`s not.
Quint: I`m not talkin` `bout pleasure boatin` or day sailin`. I`m talkin` `bout workin` for a livin`. I`m talkin` `bout sharkin`!
Brody: [to Mayor Vaughn, after the shark attack on July Fourth] Larry, the summer is over. You`re the mayor of "shark city". These people think you want the beaches open.
Hooper: Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, an eating machine. It`s really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that`s all. Now, why don`t you take a long, close look at this sign.
[refers to the graffitied billboard]
Hooper: Those proportions are correct.
Mayor Vaughn: Love to prove that, wouldn`t ya? Get your name into the National Geographic.
[Brody sees his son sitting in a small skiff, and yells for him to get out of it]
Ellen Brody: Martin, it`s his birthday tomorrow!
Brody: I don`t want him out on the water!
Ellen Brody: He is not out on the water, he is in a boat! He`s not going to go in the water! I don`t think he`ll ever go in again after what happened yesterday.
Brody: Now don`t say that. You know I don`t want that. I just want him to read the boating regulations, make sure he understands before he takes it out...
[while he talks, Ellen flips through the book on sharks he has been reading, and sees an old painting of a shark ramming a hole into the bottom of rowboat`s hull]
Ellen Brody: [slams the book shut] Michael! Did you hear your father? Out of the water now! NOW!
Hooper: I got the creme de la creme. Right here. Hold on. Yeah, you see that?
[takes off his t-shirt, showing a very hairy chest]
Brody: You`re wearing a sweater!
Trivia
Steven Spielberg wanted Sterling Hayden for the role of Quint. Hayden, however, was in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid tax. All Hayden`s income from acting was subject to a levy by the IRS, so there was an attempt to circumvent that: Hayden was also a writer, so one idea was to pay him union scale for his acting, and buy a story from him (his literary income wasn`t subject to levy) for a large sum. It was concluded that the IRS would see through this scheme, so Robert Shaw was cast instead.
Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [music] .
During pre-production, director Steven Spielberg, accompanied by friends Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and John Milius, visited the effects shop where "Bruce" the shark was being constructed. Lucas stuck his head in the shark`s mouth to see how it worked and, as a joke, Milius and Spielberg sneaked to the controls and made the jaw clamp shut on Lucas` head. Unfortunately, and rather prophetically, considering the later technical difficulties the production would suffer, the shark malfunctioned, and Lucas got stuck in the mouth of the shark. When Spielberg and Milius were finally able to free him, the three men ran out of the workshop, afraid they`d done major damage to the creature.
Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [stars] .
A scene filmed, but not included in the final release, was during the second beach attack. Brody`s son, swimming in the "shallow area" is frozen in terror as the shark approaches him; the man saves his life by pushing the boy out of the way at the last minute and putting himself in the path of the shark. There is a shot of the bloody, dying man`s upper body being dragged briefly along in the shark`s jaws before being pulled underwater. Steven Spielberg shot the scene, but decided it was far too gruesome and didn`t include it. The DVD release shows the scene being shot, blood and all, during the The Making of Steven Spielberg`s `Jaws` (1995) (V) documentary, but it is not included in the "Deleted Footage" or "Outtakes" sections of the DVD.
According to Steven Spielberg in the DVD `making of` documentary, his original idea for introducing Quint was to have him in the local movie theater watching Moby Dick (1956) starring Gregory Peck. Quint was to be sitting at the back of the theater and laughing so loudly at the absurd special effects of the whale that he drove the other viewers to exit the theater, leaving Quint by himself. Spielberg says that the only thing that stopped him from doing that scene was Gregory Peck. Peck held part of the rights to that movie and when Spielberg approached him for permission, Peck turned him down. Not because he thought it was a bad idea to use the film that way, but because Peck didn`t like his performance in Moby Dick (1956) and didn`t want the film seen again.
Cameo: [Steven Spielberg] voice on Quint`s marine radio, when Mrs. Brody tries to contact her husband on the "Orca".
Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [father] Ms. Kinter is a single mother.
Charlton Heston was considered for the role of Chief Brody. Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Jon Voight and Jan-Michael Vincent were considered for the role of Hooper.
Victoria Principal was considered for the role of Ellen Brody.
Richard Dreyfuss originally turned down the role of Hooper but had worries after the initial screening of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) and asked for his part back.
Lee Marvin was considered for the role of Quint by Steven Spielberg, despite his reservations about using big-name actors. Marvin thanked him but replied that he`d rather go fishing.
In addition to the well-known nickname of "Bruce", Steven Spielberg also called the shark "the great white turd" when he really got frustrated with the troublesome animatronic fish.
In a biography, Steven Spielberg revealed how `Robert Duvall (I)` helped to encourage him into making the movie. In return, Spielberg offered the role of Brody to Duvall but he turned it down, fearing that it may make him too famous as a result.
Charlton Heston was so annoyed with being rejected for the role of Brody that he later made disparaging comments about Steven Spielberg and vowed never to work with him. He later turned down Spielberg`s offer of the role of General Stilwell in 1941 (1979).
Author Peter Benchley`s choices for whom to cast in the film were Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.
Steven Spielberg originally wanted Joe Spinell and Frank Pesce to be the two guys on the dock fishing for the shark at night (Pesce as the guy who falls in the water and Spinell shouting to him). Unfortunately, Pesce couldn`t make it to Martha`s Vineyard.
Quint`s tale of the USS Indianapolis was conceived by playwright Howard Sackler, lengthened by screenwriter John Milius and rewritten by Robert Shaw following a disagreement between screenwriters Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Shaw presented his text, and Benchley and Gottlieb agreed that this was exactly what was needed. Whoever was responsible, Quint got the date of the sinking wrong, claiming it was June 29, 1945, when in reality it was 12:14 am on July 30th, 1945. Universal has toyed with the idea of making the "Indianapolis" incident into a film, using a young Quint as the lead, ever since. Note that June 29, however, is the date (in the film) that the young boy was eaten by the shark, as can be seen in the hand-written "reward" notice.
The live shark footage was shot at Seal Rocks (Neptune Islands), South Australia. A real white pointer was cut up and "extended" for the close-up shots.
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# When the shark attacks Hooper`s cage, there`s live footage of a real Great White with a rope hanging from its mouth. This shark`s mouth is clearly much smaller than the shark`s mouth when it attacks the boat moments later. These scenes were filmed by noted shark photographers Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor with the help of shark expert Rodney Fox specifically for the movie. Because the Great White sharks they filmed would be smaller than the mechanical shark in the movie, they constructed a smaller version of Hooper`s shark cage. Inside the cage they alternately used a small mannequin or a little person. One of the sharks they attracted got caught in the cage`s cables and tore it apart trying to escape. The footage was so good that they changed the script to reflect the destroyed cage and Hooper escaping by hiding on the ocean floor. However, the small person used in the scene refused to go back in the miniature cage, which was damaged in the incident.
Quint`s boathouse set was built in Martha`s Vineyard on an abandoned lot. The city council made the production crew sign an agreement to demolish it after filming and replace everything exactly as it had been - right down to the litter.
Preview audiences screamed when the head of a shark victim appears in the hole in the bottom of the boat. Director Steven Spielberg re-shot the scene in editor Verna Fields swimming pool because he wanted them to "scream louder".
Author Peter Benchley was thrown off the set after objecting to the climax.
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# Martha`s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was used as Amity Island primarily because even 12 miles out to sea, the sandy bottom was only 30 feet down, allowing the mechanical shark to function. Residents were paid $64 to scream and run across the beach as extras.
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# The first shark killed on the docks, which is supposed to be the "man-eater" in the movie, is actually a real shark killed in Florida because there wasn`t a big enough one in Martha`s Vineyard.
Brody`s dog in the movie was actually Steven Spielberg`s real dog.
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# The mechanical shark spent most of the movie broken-down, and was unavailable for certain shots. This led Steven Spielberg to use the camera as the "shark", and film from the shark`s point of view. Many think this added to the "chilling/haunting" quality in the final release saying that it would have made it too "cheesy" had they shown the shark as much as originally planned.
The original scene with Alex Kintner`s death was so scary that it was cut to ensure a PG rating. The scene called for a doll of Alex to be floating among the bathers, then the shark would jump out of the water.
When Roy Scheider was trapped in the sinking Orca, it took 75 takes to get the shot right. Scheider did not trust the special effects team to rescue him in case of an emergency so he hid axes and hatchets around the cabin just in case.
There were two 300-pound weights attached to Susan Backlinie that were being tugged by two groups of crewmen on shore. One group would pull right, and the other would pull left. It took three days to film that sequence.
After the shark was built, it was never tested in the water, and when it was put in the water at Martha`s Vineyard, it sank straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it.
The lighthouse in the film near the beach is an actual lighthouse on Martha`s Vineyard where the filming took place. Because of the billboard in the scene, the lighthouse had to be "moved" with special effects in post-production.
Steven Spielberg named the shark "Bruce" after his lawyer.
After the surprise success of the film, Hollywood insiders ascribed the film`s effectiveness mostly to veteran editor Verna Fields rather than the little-known, 28-year-old Steven Spielberg. Although he undoubtedly learned much from Fields, Spielberg wished to prove his worth in following films and never worked with Fields again. It should be said that from Jaws (1975) until Fields death, Spielberg only made three films: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 1941 (1979) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Steven Spielberg played first clarinet for the beach scene.
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# In the actual Jersey Beach shark attacks of 1916 (which Hooper mentions in the film), the sequence of attacks is similar to that of the film: a swimmer in the surf; a dog; a boy; and the leg of a man in a tidal slough.
The "oceanographic institution on the mainland" that Matt Hooper comes from refers to the real-life Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Bob Ballard who rediscovered the RMS Titanic worked from Woods Hole.
The mechanical shark used in the film was nicknamed "Bruce" by its handlers, and the "full body" version tours around museums, while "Bruce II" resides at the Universal Theme Parks and "bites at" tourists on the tour ride.
Robert Shaw was also in trouble with the IRS and had to flee the country once his scenes were completed.
Some scenes that have been declared "missing" from the video were not in the original theatrical release. When the movie was first televised, the network needed fillers after editing it for TV, so they used extra footage from the film`s production.
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# This was the first movie to reach the coveted $100 million mark in "theatrical rentals", which is about 45% of the "box office gross". It was the highest-grossing of all-time in the U.S. until Star Wars (1977).
When it was initially released in the summer 1975, over 67 million Americans went to see the movie, making it the first summer "blockbuster".
Robert Shaw could not stand Richard Dreyfuss and they argued all the time, which resulted in some good tension between Hooper and Quint.
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# The average summer tourist population of Martha`s Vineyard before the film was released was approximately 5,000 people. After it came out, the population ballooned to 15,000.
Cameo: [Peter Benchley] reporter on the beach.
Peter Benchley has mentioned that if he had known about the actual behavior of sharks, he would have never written the book.
On the Anniversary edition of this picture on DVD, it is revealed on the documentary of the making of the film, The Making of Steven Spielberg`s `Jaws` (1995) (V), that Lee Marvin was Steven Spielberg`s first choice for Quint. When he refused, Sterling Hayden was his next choice.
Murray Hamilton was the only star who was Steven Spielberg`s first choice and was the only actor considered for the role of Mayor of Amity.
To create the sound of a drowning woman during post-production, Susan Backlinie was positioned, head upturned, in front of a microphone, while water from above was poured down into her throat.
Producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown avoided casting big-name stars because they thought they might distract audiences from the story`s tension.
Steven Spielberg shot roughly 25% of the film from water level to provide the viewers the perspective as if they were treading water.
Amity Island is actually Martha`s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Whereas Amity Island was also its own town, Martha`s Vineyard has six different towns on it.
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# The original U.K. video release of the 25th Anniversary version was wrongly labeled as a P.G. rating, when it should have been a 12 rating, due to Roy Scheider saying the "F" word in the documentary. The mislabeled videos have been withdrawn.
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# When composer John Williams originally played the score for Steven Spielberg, Spielberg laughed and said, "That`s funny, John, really. But what did you really have in mind for the theme of Jaws (1975)?" Spielberg later stated that without Williams`s score, the movie would only have been half as successful.
The scene where the head pops out from under the boat was not originally scripted. Director Steven Spielberg says he "got greedy" after he saw the preview audience`s reaction to the scene where the shark jumps out behind Brody`s head and wanted "one more scare."
Quint`s boat is named "Orca". In real life, the Orca whale (usually known as "killer whale") is a known enemy of the shark.
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# With the schedule ballooning from 52 to 155 days, Steven Spielberg had to juggle Universal`s impossible deadlines, an unfinished script, chaotic conditions off Martha`s Vineyard and a belligerent actor in Robert Shaw. On the last day of shooting, Spielberg wore his most expensive clothes to deter a dunking from the mutinous crew. As soon as the shot was captured, he jumped in a speedboat and sped shoreward yelling, "I shall not return."
The producers have said that had they read the book more than once, they would have known ahead of time that there would be problems filming the movie, and thus wouldn`t have made it.
There is a much-repeated story that a lot of the pain on Susan Backlinie`s face (Chrissie Watkins, the first victim) is real, since as well as moving her about in the water, the frame she was strapped into was breaking her ribs. In a radio interview, she denied being injured.
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# Roy Scheider stated in an interview that in the scene where Lee Fierro (Mrs. Kintner) smacks him in the face, she was actually hitting him. Apparently, the actress could not fake a slap and so the multiple takes were some of the "most painful" of his (Scheider`s) acting career.
According to writer Carl Gottlieb, the line "You`re gonna need a bigger boat" was not scripted but improvised by Roy Scheider.
The "forward tracking, zoom out" shot used when Brody realizes Alex Kintner has been eaten has been called "the Jaws shot" by some video teachers who instruct students on using this move. However, this shot is merely a reverse of the "forward zoom and reverse tracking" shot invented by Irmin Roberts for the disorienting height shots in Vertigo (1958). A similar shot appears to have been used for the dream sequences in Truffaut`s Fahrenheit 451 (1966), in which Montag runs down an apparently endless corridor, passing doors on both sides but seems to never get closer to the end.
When Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss first realize the size of the shark, Shaw`s character then goes inside and assembles a harpoon gun. The voice over the CB Radio that calls the "Orca" is Steven Spielberg`s.
Composer John Williams conducted the orchestra during the 1976 Academy Awards, so when it was announced that he won the Oscar for Best Score, he had to run up to the podium to accept his Oscar and then run back to continue conducting the orchestra.
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# According to the boat handlers who worked on the film, Quint`s boat, "Orca", was a studio fabrication based upon a boat purchased locally. After the special effects team finished with it, it was so top-heavy as to be unseaworthy. Ballast would correct that, but the only large quantity of lead that could be located locally was owned by a local dentist who was going to use it to shield his X-Ray room. So that was rented from him at an exorbitant fee. The fake Orca, designed to sink, was actually more seaworthy than the real thing.
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# The tax problem Robert Shaw was facing was that if he spent more than a certain amount of time in the U.S. he would face a tax liability. To circumvent that, Shaw was flown to Canada on his days off.
An accident during filming caused the Orca to begin sinking. Steven Spielberg began screaming over a bullhorn for the nearby safety boats to rescue the actors. John R. Carter, already up to his knees in water on the sinking Orca, held his Nagra (tape recorder) up over his head and screamed, "F**k the actors, save the sound department!" During the accident, the film camera was submerged, so its film, still submerged in sea water, was flown to a New York film lab where technicians were able to save the film. The accident is described starting at 01:30:07 in "The Making of Jaws" on the 30th Anniversary edition DVD.
During the filming of the scene where Brody shoots at the "fish", the gun jammed at least four times before the shot worked.
Steven Spielberg`s biggest fear other than the appearance/performance of the mechanical shark was that cameras would catch sight of land.
According to The Making of Steven Spielberg`s `Jaws` (1995) (V) documentary, the shooting star that appears during the night scene where Brody loads his revolver was real, not an optical effect.
The first actor to be signed on was Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody. Steven Spielberg hired her after seeing her in The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973) (TV), because he thought she was so naturalistic.
In 2004, Empire magazine voted this as the 10th best film of all time.
Voted #3 in Total Film`s 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time list (November 2005).
During the display in which Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw compare battle scars, Roy Scheider lifts up his shirt to reveal an appendix incision. This is not a prosthetic, but Scheider`s own scar.
Producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown optioned the film rights to the novel for $175,000 in a deal which also included a first-draft screenplay from author Peter Benchley. This draft, extremely faithful to the novel, would later be rejected by Steven Spielberg. The subsequent two drafts from Benchley would also be rejected.
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# Three mechanical "Bruces" were made, each with specialized functions. One shark was open on the right side, one was open on the left side, and the third was fully skinned. Each shark cost approximately $250,000.
When Universal saw the finished film and were more than happy with the result, they began an advertising campaign on television costing an unprecedented $700,000.
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# The film was simultaneously shown in 490 theaters on its opening weekend, the first time for Hollywood, setting the standard for subsequent films. The film was originally booked in about 1000 theaters, but MCA executive Lew Wasserman wanted that cut back, saying he wanted lines at the box office.
This was voted the sixth scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Tommy Johnson was the tuba player whose ominous sounds announced the sharks` arrival.
In the socialist Hungary, the movie was only released in 1985. It became the second biggest grossing film that year: 1.5 million tickets were sold (Hungary`s population was around 10 million at that time!) The biggest hit that year was Bomber (1982) starring Bud Spencer.
There`s a scene on the beach where Brody tells a guy "That`s some bad hat, Harry." The same line is used by "Bad Hat Harry Productions" at the very end of the TV show "House M.D." (2004). There`s even an animated shark that swims by.
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# Although he goes uncredited, the baseball announcer we hear over the radio during one of the beach scenes is sports announcer, Charlie Jones. He was mostly known for football. All of the players he announces here are fictional.
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# On the DVD documentary, Steven Spielberg states that his original idea for introducing the shark was going to be a scene that took place at the dock at night: The harbor master would be watching TV, and through the window behind him the audience would see a row of boats rising and falling as the shark swam underneath them. Spielberg believed that the swell of the boats would help indicate the huge size of the shark; however, the logistics involved (for example, getting all the boats to go up and down at the correct intervals) proved too difficult to coordinate properly. Additionally, the constantly malfunctioning shark would not allow the scene to be filmed. Much to Spielberg`s disappointment, the scene had to be shelved.
Several decades later, Lee Fierro, who plays Mrs. Kitner, walked into a seafood restaurant and noticed that the menu had an "Alex Kitner Sandwich". She commented that she had played his mother so many years ago. The owner of the restaurant ran out to meet her -- none other than Jeffrey Voorhees, who had played her son. They hadn`t seen each other since the original movie shoot.
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# Though respected as an actor, Robert Shaw`s trouble with alcohol was a frequent source of tension during filming. In later interviews, Roy Scheider described his co-star as "a perfect gentleman whenever he was sober. All he needed was one drink and then he turned into a competitive son-of-a-bitch." According to Carl Gottlieb`s book "The Jaws Log," Shaw was having a drink between takes, at which point he announced "I wish I could quit drinking." Much to the surprise and horror of the crew, Richard Dreyfuss simply grabbed Shaw`s glass and tossed it into the ocean. When it came time to shoot the infamous USS Indianapolis Scene, Shaw attempted to do the monologue while intoxicated as it called for the men to be drinking late at night. Nothing in the take could be used. A remorseful Shaw called Steven Spielberg late that night and asked if he could have another try. The next day of shooting, Shaw`s electrifying performance was done in one take.
Voted #5 On Empire`s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (September 2008)
Most of the film was shot handheld as that was the best way to countermand the ocean`s swell.
The Orca was originally called The Warlock.
The color red is never used in any clothes or any backgrounds as Spielberg wanted it to be only seen as blood.
This was the first time that Martha`s Vineyard was used as a location for a feature film.
Howard Sackler was asked to contribute to the screenplay because of his experience as a scuba diver. Sackler`s only proviso was that he not receive screen credit as he felt that he didn`t work long enough on the film.
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# Pre-production had been cut short in the hopes of taking advantage of the unseasonably good weather in Martha`s Vineyard. However, when the production landed at the Vineyard, the weather took a turn for the worse. Consequently, shooting had to begin without a finalized script, meaning Steven Spielberg and Carl Gottlieb had to work on the screenplay after they`d finished filming for the day.
As most of the seaside resorts in 1975 experienced a downturn in visitors, some of the establishments would resort to innovative ways to lure in customers. One recorded example was a seafood restaurant in Cape Cod which proudly displayed the sign "Eat Fish - Get Even".
Richard Dreyfuss initially passed on the part of Hooper, saying that Jaws (1975) was a film he`d love to watch but not to make.
Richard Dreyfuss was tested and cast at the suggestion of George Lucas who had just worked with him on American Graffiti (1973).
Jaws (1975) opened on only 409 screens. Within 78 days it had become the highest grossing film of all time but even then it was still showing in less than 1000 screens.
Filmed under the threat of an impending actors` strike.
Following the release of the film, interest in shark fishing soared.
A real shark became entangled in a line that had been lain down over the underwater cage. This footage was subsequently used in the film.
If Steven Spielberg hadn`t chanced upon the galley proofs of `Peter Benchley (I)``s novel, he was seriously contemplating making "Flushed with Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper", the man who invented the flushing toilet.
Some of the incidents that befell the troubled production included writer Carl Gottlieb and Steven Spielberg nearly getting killed in seafaring accidents.
As the shoot ballooned from 55 days to 159, with the budget likewise spiraling, the film earned the nickname amongst the crew of "Flaws".
Jaws (1975) single-handedly caused a downturn in the package holiday trade.
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# Steven Spielberg almost accidentally came across the property when he spotted the galley proofs for `Peter Benchley (I)`s book sitting on producer David Brown`s desk.
Voted #5 on Empire magazine`s 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (September 2008).
After filming was completed Steven Spielberg said "My next picture will be on dry land. There won`t even be a bathroom scene". He was true to his word. His next film was Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
The music by John Williams was ranked at #6 by the American Film Institute for their list of the 25 greatest film scores.
Was voted the 48th greatest film by the American Film Institute on their list of the 100 greatest movies in 1998. Ten years later, it dropped eight ranks to #56.
The shark was ranked the eighteenth greatest villain on the AFI`s list of 100 Heroes and Villains
Was ranked the second greatest thriller on the AFI`s list of 100 Thrills.
SPOILER: According to Carl Gottlieb`s "The Jaws Log", Steven Spielberg was never happy with the moment when Ben Gardner`s head pops out of the hole in the bottom of his boat. Preview audiences jumped at this scene, but Spielberg wanted more than an ordinary shock moment. However, the studio was unwilling to budget a re-shoot. So Spielberg declared that he`d pay for it himself, assembling a crew in editor Verna Fields` back-yard swimming pool, which would serve as the underwater location. A gallon of milk gave the water enough of the look of Nantucket Sound. The boat bottom was placed in the pool and Richard Dreyfuss` stunt double went through the action. The studio eventually ate the cost of the re-shoot, and the scene was taken to a much higher level, just by changing the composition and timing of a few feet of footage.
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# SPOILER: In the original script, Quint was killed off by drowning. The rope from the harpoon that he fires at the shark wraps around his foot and he is pulled under by the shark, calling for Brody to give him the knife. (This was also the way the character was killed off in the book and, according to an interview with Steven Spielberg about this scene, it is similar to the way Ahab dies in "Moby Dick".) However, it was decided that Quint should be eaten, so the script was changed to what is in the movie.
SPOILER: Regarding the ending, author Peter Benchley thought Steven Spielberg`s idea of shooting and blowing up the compressed air tank was horrible. Spielberg even considered having Chief Brody kill the shark only to look up and observe several other fins coming towards him.
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# SPOILER: After the shark blows up, the groaning sound effects during the shot of the carcass sinking are the same ones the truck makes as it crashes off a cliff in Steven Spielberg`s first film, Duel (1971) (TV). The sound effect is from the original Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
SPOILER: The sound-effect used when the shark first reveals itself, as Brody is throwing chum, is actually a fizzy-pop bottle being opened onto concrete after being shaken up.
SPOILER: Quint`s name comes from the Latin word for "fifth". Quint is the fifth person killed by the shark (after Chrissie Watkins, Alex Kintner, disembodied head in boat, and Michael`s sailing teacher).
SPOILER: Before the shark was blown up at the end, an explosives expert with a blasting permit was needed. Richard S. ("Dick") Edwards had done extensive explosives work while in the Navy and then for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and he agreed to place the dynamite for the final scene. Finding he couldn`t get past the teeth of the shark mock-up, he was forced to crawl into the back of the device, but it was made of sharp fiberglass. After wrapping his knees with towels and putting on heavy gloves, he had to carry the dynamite in his mouth to place it in the head of the "shark," where his picture was taken and is now in the archives of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, along with the oral history that describes his contribution to this classic movie.
SPOILER: When the shark is destroying the cage after Hooper swims away, you can see the shark turn and twist upside down. This was actual footage shot by Ron Taylor. As seen and explained in a recent Jaws (1975) documentary, the Great White Shark the couple had been filming became entangled in the cage`s suspension ropes. The cage broke loose and sank to the bottom, however the shark managed to escape and swim off (as can also be seen in the film). After the shark had cleared the area, Ron had to take a second cage to the bottom in order to rescue the first. Ron and Valerie Taylor eventually went on to develop the chain-mail shark-proof diving suit.
SPOILER: When Brody is flipping through the book about sharks, one of the photos shows a shark with an air tank in its mouth, which presages the film`s finale.
SPOILER: In the original novel, Hooper has an affair with Brody`s wife, and is killed by the shark in the cage at the end. However, because the relationship between Brody`s wife and Hooper was considered by many to be irrelevant to the plot, and arbitrarily included in the novel just to "sex it up", it was omitted from the film script, and Hooper was allowed to survive.
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