| Jaws | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Jaws |
| Director: | Steven Spielberg |
| Writers: | Carl Gottlieb; Peter Benchley |
| Producers: | David Brown; Richard D. Zanuck |
| Composer: | John Williams |
| Cinematography: | Bill Butler |
| Editors: | Verna Fields |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | Universal Pictures |
| Released: | June 20th, 1975 (Limited) July 25th, 1975 (Wide) |
| Rating: | PG |
| Running time: | 124 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $8,000,000 [1] |
| Gross: | $260,000,000 (US) $210,653,000 (Foreign) $470,653,000 (Worldwide) [2] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | Jaws 2 |
Jaws is an American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is based on the 1974 Jaws by Peter Benchley and premiered in the United States to limited release on June 20th, 1975. It was screened in wide release in the US on July 25th, 1975. The premise of the film involves a popular New England resort community known as Amity, whose population is thrown into disarray over Fourth of July weekend when a great white shark begins attacking local swimmers. Roy Scheider plays the role of Amity police chief Martin Brody, a middle-aged man tasked with safeguarding the beaches, while also struggling to yield to the unrealistic expectations of an opportunistic mayor. To help him stave off future shark attacks, Chief Brody hires an oceanographer named Matt Hooper and an old sea salt named Quint. Together, the three of them venture into dangerous waters to hunt down the shark before it can claim another victim.
Plot[]
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Roy Scheider | Chief Martin Brody |
| Robert Shaw | Sam Quint |
| Richard Dreyfuss | Matt Hooper |
| Lorraine Gary | Ellen Brody |
| Murray Hamilton | Mayor Larry Vaughn |
| Carl Gottlieb | Meadows |
| Jeffrey C. Kramer | Hendricks |
| Susan Backlinie | Christine Watkins |
| Jonathan Filley | Tom Cassidy |
| Ted Grossman | Estuary victim |
| Chris Rebello | Michael Brody |
| Jay Mello | Sean Brody |
| Lee Fierro | Mrs. Kintner |
| Jeffrey Voorhees | Alex Kintner |
| Craig Kingsbury | Ben Gardner |
| Robert Nevin | Medical examiner |
| Peter Benchley | Interviewer |
| Chris Anastasio | Out of towner |
| John Bahr | Beach guitarist |
| Robert Carroll | Mister Polk |
| Edward Chalmers, Jr. | Mister Denherder |
| Robert Chambers | Charlie |
| Denise Cheshire | Christine Watkins (double) |
| Fritzi Jane Courtney | Mrs. Taft |
| Cyprian R. Dube | Mister Posner |
| Paul Goulart | Clarinet player |
| Mike Haydn | Bonfire guitarist |
| Duncan Inches | Townsperson |
| Belle McDonald | Mrs. Posner |
| Donald Poole | Frank Silva, harbor master |
| Ayn Ruymen | Nurse |
| Peggy Scott | Polly |
| Steven Spielberg | Amity Point life station worker |
| Alfred Wilde | Harry Wiseman |
| Dick Young | Pratt |
Notes & Trivia[]
- The tagline for this film is, "You'll never go in the water again".
- It has become a popular notion to refer to "Jaws" as the proper name of the shark, though this is not the case in either the film or the novel. Steven Spielberg has taken to calling him "Bruce", whom he named after his lawyer. A shark is a derogatory term for lawyer.
- Robert Shaw actually wrote his own dialogue for the scene where he recounts the tale of the USS Indianapolis.
- The events of this film take place on the weekend of July 4th, 1975.
- Production on Jaws began in February, 1974. Principal photography commenced on May 2nd, 1974 and wrapped on September 15th, 1974. Reshoots and other additional photography were conducted in December.
- Jaws was filmed primarily in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Notable exterior shots include Aquinnah, East Chop, Edgartown, Joseph Sylva State Beach, Menemsha, Oak Bluffs, Sengekontacket Pond, Water Street, Main Street and the American Legion Memorial Bridge.
- The scenes of the Amity police station were filmed in Seattle, Washington.
- Jaws was re-released to theaters on July 11th, 1979.
- Joe Dante's 1978 movie Piranha was one of the first to capitalize on the popularity of Jaws. In the beginning of the film, Heather Menzies' character, Maggie McKeown is seen at an airport playing a Jaws pinball game. As such, Bruce the shark makes an appearance in Piranha before any of the actual piranhas do. In fact, some of the promotional posters for Piranha were a deliberate pastiche of the trademark Jaws movie poster.
- In the 2008 Erik Estenberg film Monster, one of the main characters in the beginning of the film intones the infamous John Williams score while staring at her slippers.
- Richard Dreyfuss, who plays oceanographer Matt Hooper in this film, also made a cameo appearance in the beginning of the 2010 film Piranha 3D playing a character named Matt Boyd. Dreyfuss' character is seen wearing the same cap, coat and glasses that he wore in Jaws. In addition, he is heard singing "Show Me the Way to Go Home", which was sung by the three main actors in Jaws and has become a rather famous folk song in its own right due in large measure to the movie. Originally, Piranha director Alexandre Aja intended the character to actually be Matt Hooper, but his name was changed to Matt Boyd instead. [3]
- This movie is referenced in the "Night of the Living Late Show" episode of Creepshow in 2021.
External Links[]
- Jaws at IMDB
- Jaws at Wikipedia
- Jaws at AllRovi.com
- Jaws at Filmsite.org
- Jaws at Box Office Mojo
- Jaws at Rotten Tomatoes
References[]
- ↑ IMDB; Jaws (1975)
- ↑ Box Office Mojo; Jaws (1975)
- ↑ Alexandre Aja; Piranha; DVD; 2010; Behind-the-scenes featurette