Really enjoyed this read Sharon. It’s always fascinating to find out what happens in the moments when things go wrong and the results are spectacularly successful. If the Shark animatronics had worked, would the film makers have to had leant so heavily on John Williams? Would the film have been as good? Would it have been as frightening?
What a delightful experience! Jaws is one of my favourite movies. Despite all the problems with the shark it is a gem, with brilliant performances and editing. I think it's one of Williams' best scores, even though Spielberg thought he was joking when he first played it to him on the piano. It must have been great to hear it at the Sydney Opera House. I did hear it performed live once and it was lovely to hear a score you know well performed by a live orchestra.
As you say, so many memorable scenes in this film. In an appreciation I wrote a couple of years ago I mentioned the scene at the table where Brody's little son is mimicking him while Ellen looks on. Heaven! (Oh, and the scene where Brody, Quint and Hooper get drunk.) I'll shut up now. 😆
Jules! I just knew you’d be a woman after my own heart with Jaws. I need to read your piece on it asap. It’s a glorious film eh? The score…just sublime.
Jules, I could talk about Jaws all day long. It was tough having to stick to one angle for the piece. I wrote a list of my favourite scenes/quotes, then quickly realised I’d gone off on a tangent and had to (reluctantly) delete! 😀
What a great thing to do Sharon! Best soundtrack ever. I never considered what it would be like to see it when it first came out - the fact that people vomited is totally believable. I guess it looked like it might just be another one of those films and yet it so wasn’t.
I’m glad you enjoyed Faith, thanks for reading. I’m kinda wistful for the time when we were taken by surprise in films. Now we’ve see it all. I reckon we’re culturally deprived of these shared experiences because of it.
I agree, although it does make it more interesting when those rare occasions happen - I think The Traitors might be an example, although it’s not a film. 🤔
Amazing movie. I think my favourite scene is when Brody and all the Mayor's lackeys are on the ferry and SS turns a boring scene - essentially centred on exposition - into a really interesting visual scene setting. Very Kurosawa!
Also (as Jules pointed out) the scene comparing scars - just amazing.
John Williams is a bloody genius of composing and I struggle to think of one score that is substandard.
Well it wasn't Jaws that did it, it was real life: three consecutive shark attacks on three different beaches on three different days.... after I'd been to all three. Really got in my head. Movie sharks probably don't help, but I do enjoy a good shark film.
I also get thalassophobia - fear of large bodies of water - so I just don't really bother with the oceans at all.
Also, only just realised I'm not subscribed to you Sharon. Glaring oversight, now rectified!
Lewis, I'm not sure how I missed this comment, thanks so much for subscribing. And I hear you, re, large bodies of water. I have a fear of seeing submarines or large vessels emerge from the water - I'm sure I'm not alone there!
I must have been nine or ten when I took my next-door neighbour, Gemma, on the bus to the cinema at the top of Sidcup High Street to see Jaws. I remember it so clearly.
I was curious and looked up the story of the censorship that let us kids go see it.
> That decision we can thank the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and its former chairman James Ferman. He first saw the film a few weeks before he became its chairman, his initial thought being how on earth could he pass it as an A and let children see it if it was going to give them nightmares?
> Ferman sought the advice of a child psychiatrist, who after deliberation told Ferman what was so bad about nightmares? It's just kids working through their problems.
Yes, I went back there recently. It’s all very sad. My dad used to take me to The Black Horse every Saturday after the divorce. It’s a shoe shop now.
I had my first ever date in that cinema. I took Jo to see E.T. We are still friends 45 years later and she still lives just around the corner from where the cinema was.
I read the book a year or so later. The bit that sticks in mind is the sex scene — probably the first sex scene I ever read — and it was a rape.
What I really remember though is Hooper meeting Ellen for lunch and Helen is moist with excitement. Hooper orders the scallops but they are fake and Ellen hopes he doesn't make a fuss. Then they go home and shag.
Splendid! My daughter and I had a wonderful visit this summer with Abigail Thomas and somehow we ended up watching Jaws! It gets me every time. Next time I’ll have a greater appreciation for the music.
Lovely piece amid the political haunting-we definitely need a bigger boat.
Really enjoyed this read Sharon. It’s always fascinating to find out what happens in the moments when things go wrong and the results are spectacularly successful. If the Shark animatronics had worked, would the film makers have to had leant so heavily on John Williams? Would the film have been as good? Would it have been as frightening?
Thanks Darren. Yep - it’s an ill wind, as they say in the biz, or in this case, a ropey mechanical shark!
What a delightful experience! Jaws is one of my favourite movies. Despite all the problems with the shark it is a gem, with brilliant performances and editing. I think it's one of Williams' best scores, even though Spielberg thought he was joking when he first played it to him on the piano. It must have been great to hear it at the Sydney Opera House. I did hear it performed live once and it was lovely to hear a score you know well performed by a live orchestra.
As you say, so many memorable scenes in this film. In an appreciation I wrote a couple of years ago I mentioned the scene at the table where Brody's little son is mimicking him while Ellen looks on. Heaven! (Oh, and the scene where Brody, Quint and Hooper get drunk.) I'll shut up now. 😆
Jules! I just knew you’d be a woman after my own heart with Jaws. I need to read your piece on it asap. It’s a glorious film eh? The score…just sublime.
I really do think it's one of the best ever - Dreyfuss, Shaw and Scheider were just perfect together. And Murray Hamilton as the mayor! 😍
Jules, I could talk about Jaws all day long. It was tough having to stick to one angle for the piece. I wrote a list of my favourite scenes/quotes, then quickly realised I’d gone off on a tangent and had to (reluctantly) delete! 😀
I know! It's a banquet 😊
What a great thing to do Sharon! Best soundtrack ever. I never considered what it would be like to see it when it first came out - the fact that people vomited is totally believable. I guess it looked like it might just be another one of those films and yet it so wasn’t.
I’m glad you enjoyed Faith, thanks for reading. I’m kinda wistful for the time when we were taken by surprise in films. Now we’ve see it all. I reckon we’re culturally deprived of these shared experiences because of it.
I agree, although it does make it more interesting when those rare occasions happen - I think The Traitors might be an example, although it’s not a film. 🤔
Amazing movie. I think my favourite scene is when Brody and all the Mayor's lackeys are on the ferry and SS turns a boring scene - essentially centred on exposition - into a really interesting visual scene setting. Very Kurosawa!
Also (as Jules pointed out) the scene comparing scars - just amazing.
John Williams is a bloody genius of composing and I struggle to think of one score that is substandard.
Couldn’t agree more. The coming together of Williams and Spielberg. Geniuses.
Love Jaws. This sounds like a fantastic way to see it again, Sharon!
Oh I love this, jaws is iconic, absolutely petrified me as a kid ! What an experience to watch it with music at the Sydney opera house 😁 amazing.
I am deeply, incredibly jealous! One of my favourite films ever made*, seeing it in that setting would've blown my tiny mind.
*I must've watched it 30-odd times with no issues before I actually developed a very real fear of sharks.
How strange Lewis, that it took so long! Actually, it’s taken me til now to feel a bit sorry for the poor bugger!
Well it wasn't Jaws that did it, it was real life: three consecutive shark attacks on three different beaches on three different days.... after I'd been to all three. Really got in my head. Movie sharks probably don't help, but I do enjoy a good shark film.
I also get thalassophobia - fear of large bodies of water - so I just don't really bother with the oceans at all.
Also, only just realised I'm not subscribed to you Sharon. Glaring oversight, now rectified!
Lewis, I'm not sure how I missed this comment, thanks so much for subscribing. And I hear you, re, large bodies of water. I have a fear of seeing submarines or large vessels emerge from the water - I'm sure I'm not alone there!
I've been trying to write about it since I read this piece but, honestly, I get the cold sweats and retreat into something more comforting!
Sounds like a fabulous night!
Fantastic Sharon, you had be from the opening chords. What a treat to see and hear it in the SOH. I feel a re watch coming on this weekend.
Thanks Margaret. Do it! 🤓
I must have been nine or ten when I took my next-door neighbour, Gemma, on the bus to the cinema at the top of Sidcup High Street to see Jaws. I remember it so clearly.
I was curious and looked up the story of the censorship that let us kids go see it.
> That decision we can thank the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and its former chairman James Ferman. He first saw the film a few weeks before he became its chairman, his initial thought being how on earth could he pass it as an A and let children see it if it was going to give them nightmares?
> Ferman sought the advice of a child psychiatrist, who after deliberation told Ferman what was so bad about nightmares? It's just kids working through their problems.
https://thedailyjaws.com/blog/james-and-the-giant-shark-how-jaws-passed-the-uk-censors
What a different world we lived in.
Love this! Also, I know Sidcup well. What a coincidence. That cinema has since gone, now a fancy picture-house sits where Blockbuster once lived!
Yes, I went back there recently. It’s all very sad. My dad used to take me to The Black Horse every Saturday after the divorce. It’s a shoe shop now.
I had my first ever date in that cinema. I took Jo to see E.T. We are still friends 45 years later and she still lives just around the corner from where the cinema was.
https://scatteredmemories.substack.com/p/young-love
Lovely post BTW. I’ll have to watch it now.
I read the book a year or so later. The bit that sticks in mind is the sex scene — probably the first sex scene I ever read — and it was a rape.
What I really remember though is Hooper meeting Ellen for lunch and Helen is moist with excitement. Hooper orders the scallops but they are fake and Ellen hopes he doesn't make a fuss. Then they go home and shag.
I still love scallops.
Oh my days. Yes, Spielberg made the right decision taking the sex out of it.
Splendid! My daughter and I had a wonderful visit this summer with Abigail Thomas and somehow we ended up watching Jaws! It gets me every time. Next time I’ll have a greater appreciation for the music.
Lovely piece amid the political haunting-we definitely need a bigger boat.
💙