The Story:
Jaws is one of the most popular and well-known movies of all time. The tale of an enormous great white shark gone berserk tapped into some of our most primal fears, and the film itself captured the imagination as only a Spielberg picture can. But it might not have worked out that way.
Among a host of problems with a film shoot that included an unfinished script, unwelcoming waters, and uncooperative studio executives, Steven Spielberg was having trouble with the most important character/prop of the entire movie: the shark itself.
Training a shark to do the necessary stunts would have obviously been impossible, and the rubber props that were suggested to the rookie film director rang false. He decided instead on a mechanical shark designed by none other than Bob Mattey, best known for creating the squid in 20 Leagues Under the Sea.
Spielberg received one of three requested sharks (all named Bruce, after his lawyer), and immediately began experiencing problems after it sunk to the bottom of Nantucket Sound on its very. first. day. It rusted up, and the mechanisms didn't work properly. Worse, the shark had to be hosed down every day to keep the corrosion from getting worse. This great white shark was turning into a great white elephant.
Spielberg got creative, though. He started figuring out ways to essentially tell the story without the shark. He took inspiration from Hitchcock, putting the shark under the water, in shadow, and revealing only a few tidbits here and there to titillate the senses, adding to a general sense of growing dread throughout the film. The shark became a spectre, embodying that deep-seated fear far more than it could have done were it front and center in every scene.
The result is a tense suspense thriller that - coupled with the collaborative script-writing process - became a critical and popular success (7th highest grossing movie of all time in the US & Canada), and catapulted Spielberg from a novice TV director to one of the most lauded filmmakers of all time.
The result is a tense suspense thriller that - coupled with the collaborative script-writing process - became a critical and popular success (7th highest grossing movie of all time in the US & Canada), and catapulted Spielberg from a novice TV director to one of the most lauded filmmakers of all time.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the shark had worked?
Title: Jaws
Based on: Jaws by Peter Benchley
Released: June 20, 1975
Genre: Suspense/Horror
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Music: John Williams
Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton
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