"This was no boating accident!"

Wednesday night, June 24, 2015, I went to see "Jaws" (1975) on the big screen.

I remember the first time I saw this movie. It was the summer of 1975. That was the summer after my freshman year at college, when I couldn't get a summer job, because I attended college out of state, and every place I applied wanted someone who would work past the summer. That was the summer our summer stock show, for which I played violin in the orchestra, was "Fiddler on the Roof." That was the summer I got the best tan ever, because I had nothing else to do. That was the last summer my age was still in the teens (19).

I went to see this movie with Becky Teeter. At that time and place, when going to a movie, you needed to get there at least 30 minutes before it started, so you could get tickets before it sold out, and movies regularly sold out. As we were standing in line at the box office (a line which, when we entered, started at the opposite side of the building from the box office), I remember Becky saying, "I can't believe I'm paying $2.75 to get the s*** scared out of me." (I think it was $2.75, which was outrageous at the time. I'm pretty sure it was still under $3, and it may have been $2.50.)

It did scare the s*** out of both of us. I had read the book, and had become fond of Richard Dreyfuss as an actor, after having watched him at least 10 times in "American Graffiti." In the book, Richard's character, Matt Hooper, has an affair with Chief Brody's wife and gets eaten by the shark, when he goes into the water, inside the cage, to try to kill the animal. There is no affair in the movie, which I felt was a good thing. When the cage scene started, I got very nervous. I didn't want to see Richard Dreyfuss get eaten by the shark, so I covered my eyes through the entire scene. Becky kept pulling at my arms, whispering to me (as best she could whisper in this frantic moment) that the shark wasn't eating him and that he was getting away. What a relief that was!

Peter Benchley, the book's author, also co-wrote the screenplay and had a cameo as a TV reporter, so I'm sure he approved of the changes. John Williams wrote the music, which greatly contributed to the suspense. I don't think Steven Spielberg has ever collaborated with any other composer, which has probably been a great thing for both of them. I bought the soundtrack on LP. I remember playing it for a fellow music major at college, the guy who sort of ran the campus radio station. He was not impressed. His first comment was, "It's Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. He stole the concept from Stravinsky." At the time, I was not familiar with Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," but I did eventually listen to it and fell in love with it. I could hear the "plagiarism" my fellow music major had mentioned, but it wasn't a total copy, and I don't think Stravinsky's work was copyrighted.

While "Jaws" is a movie I recommend, I realize that, as far as special effects go, it's a dinosaur of a film, so those who take CGI for granted could turn up their noses at it. However, it does maintain a good old-fashioned scare vibe, the acting is really good, the score is truly a part of the film, it's a great story, the camera work is superb, and it produced a few great quotes:

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

"That's some bad hat, Harry."

"This was no boating accident." (This one was used in "Stakeout" (1987), when Richard Dreyfuss's and Emilio Estevez's characters would take turns guessing what movie a quote came from. Emilio's character repeated this quote to Richard Dreyfuss's character, who actually said the line as Matt Hooper in "Jaws." Richard Dreyfuss's character couldn't guess what movie it was from.)

I don't think this movie will scare you enough to make you not go in the ocean, but, hopefully, it will give you goosebumps.

Happy Viewing,

Teah