During the summer of 1975, North American beaches were quieter than usual. This wasn’t the result of concern over the damaging rays of the sun is; nor was it due to poor weather. Beaches were poorly attended because people were scared. The spectre of Jaws was enough to keep them away – providing as ringing an endorsement as a horror/thriller film could ever receive.
While there was hype around Jaws’ release, the extreme public reaction was less due to marketing than it was to cinematic success. Despite a brutal on-location filming experience, during which the now-ancient animatronic technology that brought the shark to life broke down repeatedly, director Steven Spielberg constructed a chillingly frightening film about a wayward and decidedly hungry great white shark that’s marauding the beaches of New England’s usually peaceful Amity Island. Great whites aren’t common in those waters, so it takes several fatal shark attacks for police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) to convince the mayor (Murray Hamilton) and others that the threat is real. Once everyone realizes that there’s a huge shark munching on swimmers, two specialists are called on to help Brody capture the beast – scientist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and local seafaring tough-guy Quint (Robert Shaw). The three head out to confront the shark and hopefully free Amity of its menace.
There’s nothing about Jaws’ story to indicate that the movie is anything special. There have been plenty of scary animal movies before and since, but this one works better than just about any of them. The principle reason for this success is the fact that the ‘monster’ isn’t visible for the first half of the movie; it’s the anticipation of horror that grabs us much more than the terrible acts themselves. John Williams’ unforgettable Jaws theme reminds us of the terror that lurks just beneath the surface, and it is so successful that it has been lampooned endlessly since it became famous upon the movie’s release.
While it’s the film’s atmosphere that’s principally responsible for its success, the script also has its moments. Brody’s comment, “I think we need a bigger boat,” became part of the American vernacular and is almost as recognizable as the film’s music. The acting, while a secondary element of the film, certainly doesn’t hurt the proceedings any. Scheider is strong as the transplanted city cop who’s trying to do the right thing, despite his fear of the water; Dreyfuss is surprisingly and effectively low-key as the scientific egghead who’s up to the real-world challenge presented by the huge shark; Shaw is the quintessential crusty seafarer. The last half of the movie, while it has lost the mystery surrounding the shark (we see him far too much for that to be retained), continues to succeed because the performances are so competent.
For more than a quarter century, Jaws has continued to scare almost everyone who watches it. I don’t anticipate that the effect will wear off anytime soon.
