ROBERT SHAW AND HIS JAWS SAGA

Robert Shaw wasn't that impressed with a script he received and read, and even confided to a friend, Hector Elizondo, "They want me to do a movie about this big fish. I don't know if I should do it or not." When Elizondo asked why Shaw had reservations he mentioned that he'd never heard of the director and didn't like the title, "Jaws".

However, the 1975 film, while it was the first movie to gross more than $100 million worldwide that Shaw had ever been part of, he didn't make a cent from it because of the taxes he had to pay from working in the United States, Canada and Ireland.

Shaw ad-libbed the "Here lies the body of Mary Lee" line after director Steven Spielberg prompted him to give Brody's wife (on the dock) a hard time. Asked later where he quoted it from, as it would require getting a license and release from the author to be used in the film, Shaw said that was unlikely, as it was off an old grave marker in Ireland.

Shaw sang the song "Spanish Ladies" while at the dock with Hooper and Brody, loading the boat to catch the shark. The song is a traditional British shanty, not a New England one. However, Shaw changed the lyrics from "for we have received orders, for to sail to old England..." to "for we've received orders for to sail to old Boston..." Shaw who was born and raised in England was an accomplished novelist and playwright, and may have become familiar with the tune while working as a teacher in the fishing town of Saltburn by the Sea.

Though respected as an actor, Shaw's trouble with alcohol was a frequent source of tension during filming. In later interviews, Roy Scheider described his co-star as "a perfect gentleman whenever he was sober. All he needed was one drink and then he turned into a competitive son-of-a-b!tch." 

According to Carl Gottlieb's book "The Jaws Log," Shaw was having a drink between takes, at which one point he announced, "I wish I could quit drinking." Much to the surprise and horror of the crew, Richard Dreyfuss simply grabbed Shaw's glass and tossed it into the ocean. When it came time to shoot the infamous USS Indianapolis Scene, Shaw attempted to do the monologue while intoxicated as it called for the men to be drinking late at night. Nothing in the take could be used. A remorseful Shaw called Steven Spielberg late that night and asked if he could have another try. The next day of shooting, Shaw's electrifying performance was done in one take...

RECENTLY VIEWED: JAWS

The movie used to terrify me when I saw it as a young boy, but now 50 years I got to see Jaws in a movie theater for the first time. It is now my favorite movie of all time. For anyone born under a rock, Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. Based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley, it stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter (Robert Shaw), hunts a man-eating great white shark that attacks beachgoers at a New England summer resort town. Murray Hamilton plays the mayor, and Lorraine Gary portrays Brody's wife. The screenplay is credited to Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography.

Shot mostly on location at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts from May to October 1974, Jaws was the first major motion picture to be shot on the ocean and consequently had a troubled production, going over budget and schedule. As the art department's mechanical sharks often malfunctioned, Spielberg decided to mostly suggest the shark's presence, employing an ominous and minimalist theme created by composer John Williams to indicate its impending appearances. Spielberg and others have compared this suggestive approach to that of director Alfred Hitchcock. Universal Pictures released the film to over 450 screens, an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture at the time, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with heavy emphasis on television spots and tie-in merchandise.

Regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history, Jaws was the prototypical summer blockbuster and won several awards for its music and editing. It was the highest-grossing film in history until the release of Star Wars two years later; both films were pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model, which pursues high box-office returns from action and adventure films with simple high-concept premises, released during the summer in thousands of theaters and advertised heavily. Jaws was followed by three sequels, none of which involved Spielberg or Benchley, as well as many imitative thrillers. In 2001, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Seeing the film on the big screen was monumental for me. I have sene the movie close to 100 times, and I jumped at every scene as if I was seeing the film for the first time. The film is not in theaters long, but you have to go see it on the big screen. I had tears in my eyes watching the movie, and not from fear. This movie has meant so much to me growing up, and I was overjoyed to be able to see it not in the theaters 50 years later. It was an amazing movie experience for me...

MY RATING: 10 out of 10

MEMORIES OF JAWS

Roy Scheider stated in an interview that in the scene where Lee Fierro (Mrs. Kintner) smacks him in the face in "Jaws" (1975), she was actually hitting him. Apparently, the actress could not fake a slap and so the seventeen takes were some of the "most painful" of his acting career. Also, Fierro stated in several interviews that in one of the takes when she slapped Roy Scheider, his glasses fell off.

The role of Brody was offered to Robert Duvall, but the actor was interested only in portraying Quint. Charlton Heston expressed a desire for the role, but Spielberg felt that Heston would bring a screen persona too grand for the part of a police chief of a modest community. Scheider became interested in the project after overhearing Spielberg at a party talk with a screenwriter about having the shark jump up onto a boat. Spielberg was initially apprehensive about hiring Scheider, fearing he would portray a "tough guy", similar to his role in "The French Connection" (1971).

When Scheider was trapped in the sinking Orca, it took 75 takes to get the shot right. Scheider did not trust the special effects team to rescue him in case of an emergency so he hid axes and hatchets around the cabin just in case.

Scheider's ad-libbed line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" was voted 35th on the American Film Institute's list of best movie quotes.

MOVIES THAT HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE

Movies affect everyone in different ways. Casual movie viewers are different than movie buffs, because the movies do not seem to affect them as much as they do to the true movie lover. Every movie lover has watched movies that have changed their lives. I recently turned 40 (ugh), and I have almost been a movie lover since then. I have a lot of movies that have had a profound influence on my life. Here are five films off the top of my head that have remained me with through my growing up:

 

1.    THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (1941)

This is a little known B-movie put out by Columbia Pictures. Starring the great Peter Lorre, the film tells the story of a meek immigrant that just wants to live the American dream. That American Dream for Lorre becomes a nightmare when the tenement he found a place to live in catches fire and severely deforms him. No one will help him as society views him as a monster. He joins a gang and rises in their ranks quickly. When Lorre becomes rich from his gangster dealings, he has a doctor construct a mask to hide his burn scares. As Lorre becomes movie involved in murder, stealing, and underhanded dealings – the little shy immigrant he once was disappears, until he meets a blind girl (played expertly by Evelyn Keyes).  Keyes makes Lorre come alive again, and he realizes she loves him for what is on the inside and not the outside. He tries to leave the gang, but he faces dire consequences. The movie is short, but the story of the shy immigrant has always tugged at my heart strings. I think about this movie at least once a month. It has never been released on DVD, but I have a great copy from TCM, who shows it maybe every other year. It is really a tender and sad story.

 

2.    JAWS (1975)

Although this movie is on the borderline of a classic and a modern movie, I grew up with the movie, and it has been a part of my life for a long time. This Steven Spielberg masterpiece is also my favorite movie of all-time. I have watched the movie 75-100 times, but I have to admit if I watch it in a dark room at the right time, it still scares me. When I first saw the movie as a child it terrified me. For a good five years or so after watching the movie, I could not have my arms or legs dangle off of my bed for fear that a shark would come and bite me! This film is a great example of the type of horror movies I love. I love a movie where you don’t see the monster – at least right away. The mechanical shark during film production kept on breaking, so Spielberg had to create scenes without the shark. Thank goodness is broke so much. Because of the problem with the production, the movie created the suspense and the terror without seeing the shark. The movie, the theme song, and the terror of the movie has never left me.

 

 

3.    ROOMMATES (1995)

Growing up, I had a close relationship with my Grandfather. For a long time, until I met my wife, he was my best friend. When my Parents were emotionally and physically not there – my Grandfather was. This little known 1995 film starring Peter Falk and DB Sweeney has affected me more than any other film. The movie is about a grandfather (played by Falk) who has to raise his grandson after his daughter and son in law are killed. The movie spans several years as the grandfather and grandson grow up together.The grandson gets older and never forgets his grandfather. When he gets married, his grandfather is right there. When the grandson’s wife (played by a young Julianne Moore) is killed, Peter Falk steps in to help with his great grandson. I remember seeing this movie with my Mom and Stepfather.   Whenever I would go to the movies with them, I would dissect and review the movies on the way home. At the end of this movie, I cried for fifteen minutes straight on the way home. When the movie came out on DVD, we had my Grandparents over and all watched it together. My Grandfather even had a tear in his eye. My Grandfather died in 2002, and although I have this movie on DVD I have only watched the movie those two times. It affected me that much. 

 

4.    THE COUNTRY GIRL (1954)

Anyone who knows me, know I am a huge Bing Crosby fan. My Grandfather instilled in me a love of the music and movies of the era of golden Hollywood. My Grandfather never liked this film, because he liked his Bing Crosby as a carefree crooner. I thought this film was amazing, because it showed Bing’s range as an actor. He was amazing in this role as the down on his luck entertainer who lets booze destroy his marriage and career after the death of his son (played by a young Jon Provost). Grace Kelly played his wife and won an Oscar for her role as the emotionally tired wife. The scenes with Bing and his son are touching, and I never fail to tear up after the scene where his son dies. He is walking happily with his son, when a photographer wants to take a picture of Bing. He lets go of his son’s hand to pose for a picture briefly, but his sons runs into traffic and is killed. It is amazing the pain Bing conveys in his eyes and the anguish he feels as he blames himself through the years. The movie has an optimistic ending, but in the back of my head I can’t keep thinking that the story was not over. I can’t picture ever being able to recover after the death of a young child. Seeing Bing in this film makes me hope I never have to.

 

5.    WORDS AND MUSIC (1948)

One of my favorite musicals is this so-called biography of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart. It is not a great musical, and as a biography there is not much fact in the film, but the idea of the movie and the music has always stuck with me. The majority of my favorite songs were written by Rodgers and Hart like: “My Funny Valentine”, “Spring Is Here”, “You Are Too Beautiful”, “My Romance”, “My Heart Stood Still”, and “He Was Too Good To Be True” – among countless others. The film showcased the music as well as the lives of the composers. Rodgers was played by Tom Drake, and Lorenz Hart was played expertly by Mickey Rooney. In the movie, Hart is portrayed as a lonely and sad man who never finds love. In real life, Hart was an alcoholic who could not come to terms with his homosexuality, and he literally died in the gutter in 1943. I wish they would make a movie on Lorenz Hart’s life now, because they could show everything about Hart’s life that they were too afraid to show in 1948. The movie is not great, but the story and talent of Lorenz Hart is timeless...

MY FIVE FAVORITE FILMS OF THE 1970S

Picking my five favorite films of the 1970s was harder for me than I thought. I never realized how many high quality movies were made in that disco decade. One thing I do know is my favorite film of all time was made in that decade. Here are my five favorite movies of the 1970s, and I have to pick at least five honorable mentions…

5. THE JERK (1979)
This uproarious comedy made Steve Martin a star. Directed by Carl Reiner, the film was written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias. This was Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh and Jackie Mason. In the film Martin plays Navin Johnson. He was abandoned as a child and raised by a sympathetic black family. Now grown Navin does not realize that he is white and not black. He longs to find his way in the world so he sets off to find his “special purpose”. Look for Carl Reiner in a small role playing “Carl Reiner the actor” The movie is simple and Martin’s character is idiotic, but I find myself laughing my way through the movie each time I see it.


4. STAR WARS (1977)
The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. In my opinion, the second movie of the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back, was the best movie in the serious. However, this first movie set the stage for one of the most popular movie series in cinema history. The events depicted in Star Wars media take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a Galactic Republic, later reorganized as the Galactic Empire. I am not a science fiction fan, but this series was one of the biggest things during my childhood. I long for those days.

3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)
The comedy scene in the 1970s belonged to Mel Brooks. Hollywood never truly saw the type of movies Brooks directed until he came along. The film stars Gene Wilder as the descendent of Dr. Frankenstein who uncovers his family scientific secrets. Peter Boyle is very underrated as the Monster. The cast is made in cinema heaven and included: Marty Feldman (perfect as Igor), Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, and Gene Hackman (in a scene stealing cameo). The film is an affectionate parody of the classical horror film genre, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein produced by Universal in the 1930s. Most of the lab equipment used as props were created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film Frankenstein. To further reflect the atmosphere of the earlier films, Brooks shot the picture entirely in black-and-white, a rarity in the 1970s, and employed 1930s-style opening credits and scene transitions such as iris outs, wipes, and fades to black. The film also features a notable period score by Brooks' longtime composer John Morris. Young Frankenstein is easily one of my favorite comedies of all time.


2. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
This film sequel is one of those rare sequels, where the second movie surpasses the original film in popularity and quality. The movie is a 1974 American crime epic that Francis Ford Coppola produced, directed, and co-wrote with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, and Robert De Niro. Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel, The Godfather, the film is in part both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting two parallel dramas. The main storyline, following the events of the first film, centers on Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone crime family, trying to hold his business ventures together from 1958 to 1959; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his childhood in Sicily in 1901 to his founding of the Corleone family in New York City. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and the first sequel to win for Best Picture, its six Oscars included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. It deserved every award it received.

1. JAWS (1975)
I personally have to name Jaws as my favorite movie of the 1970s. It is also my favorite movie of all-time. Many people are surprised that this would be an all time favorite movie, but I have converted a few non believers to appreciate and realize what a great movie this is. Jaws is a 1975 American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. The film stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as oceanographer Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Murray Hamilton as the mayor of Amity Island, and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The screenplay is credited to both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal photography. I could write a book just on this movie, even though I have seen the film at least 70 times, I still find tidbits that I miss…


Of course, I had to pick some honorable mentions – and all the films on this list deserve to be on the top list. Some truly remarkable and great films were made in the 1970s: The Godfather (1972), Blazing Saddles (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and Network (1976).

MY FIVE FAVORITE FILMS OF ALL-TIME

I am starting a new series talking about my five favorites in a particular genre. Hopefully this will spark some interest, as well as cause spirited discussion amongst the blog readers. For this first post in the series, I wanted to go big and spotlight my five favorite films of all-time. I have watched many movies from the earliest silent films to today's overbudgeted hits. I don't really consider myself an expert as much as I do a film lover, and these favorite films of mine I can never get tired or watching. If I could only watch five movies, these are the ones I would want to watch:

5. BIG FISH (2003)
Director Tim Burton is mostly known for his overblown remakes. I enjoy his movies though. The movie Big Fish was one of his original masterpieces. The movie centered around a dying father (Albert Finney) who told tall tales to his son. Even though he told tall tales there were truth and lessons in every story he told. I think the reason why this movie touches me everytime I see it is because my father in law died the year this movie came out. It is one of the few movies that can make my wife cry.

4. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
Because Cary Grant was so good looking, I think his acting ability was largely overlooked. He could do it all from drama to comedy, and the movie Arsenic And Old Lace is the best example of his comedy. As he discovers his loving aunts are really murderers his own life is turned upside down, and you can see the change in Cary Grant just by looking at the craziness he conveys in his eyes. Raymond Massey also gives the best performance of his long career as well.

3. WHITE HEAT (1949)
Like Cary Grant, James Cagney could play any role. However, Cagney's best role was as ruthless gangsters. There was no one more crazed and ruthless than the character of Cody Jarrett. The character had it all - a mother complex, mental illness, and a thirst to kill. The ending of the movie with Cagney screaming "top of the world, ma" is one of the best scenes ever filmed in Hollywood.

2. GOODFELLAS (1990)
It seems like Goodfellas is on television all of the time now. It is one of the movies that when it is on, I have to watch it. The film is nearly perfect especially Robert DeNiro and Ray Liotta as mobsters. Liotta plays mobster turned rat Henry Hill. I got to see what the real Henry Hill looked like, and he was no Ray Liotta but the film was great. The movie makes me wish I was more than 25% percent Italian so I could be "made" as well.

1. JAWS (1975)
Yes, this movie is my favorite film of all-time. I have seen it a total of 70 times now. When I first saw Jaws as a child, I was afraid to let my legs dangle over my bed at night for fear that a shark would come around and bite my feet. I grew to love this film, and the best part of the movie is not seeing the shark. The shark was broken so much for young director Steven Speilberg that he had to rewrite most of the film. It made for a different movie, and probably made the film as suspenseful as it was. As for the acting, you can not get much better than Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. The film continues to remind me to never go back into the water!

CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIES

Summer was a different movie season before 'Jaws'
by Susan King

Besides scaring swimmers everywhere, "Jaws" changed the summer movie landscape.

Before the release of the Steven Spielberg-directed thrill ride on more than 400 screens on June 20, 1975, about a great white shark on a feeding frenzy around fictional Amity Island (Martha's Vineyard), the summer blockbuster didn't really exist. The studios' major films, such as "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Sound of Music," would play in a big city's movie palace sometimes for more than a year before heading to the neighborhood theaters.

The studios knew, though, that the box office was stronger during the summer and released several now-classic movies during those summer months, but they were of a much wider variety than the diet of comic-book, sequel, animated and teen fare we see now. Here's a sampling of some of the seminal movies that were introduced during the summer:

"Blood and Sand"

Moviegoers couldn't get enough of superstar heartthrob Rudolph Valentino 89 years ago in this silent epic in which he plays a bullfighter whose successful career is derailed when he is torn between two women. "Blood" was a huge box-office hit and solidified Valentino's status in Hollywood. But sadly, his success was short-lived; he died four years later at the age of 31.

"The Wizard of Oz"

Most moviegoers got their first chance to see Dorothy and the gang in this beloved musical that made a superstar out of Judy Garland on Aug. 25, 1939, though it opened earlier that month in a few places, including Hollywood, New York and Oconomowoc, Wis. The most expensive MGM production of the time — its budget was a whopping $2.7 million — it didn't recoup its cost until after several reissues.

"Miracle on 34th Street"

Along with "It's a Wonderful Life," this delightful holiday fantasy is one of the top Christmas movies of all time. Ironically, the film, which won three Academy Awards, including one for supporting actor Edmund Gwenn, as the Macy's Santa Claus who insists he's the real deal, didn't open during the yuletide season. This "Miracle" arrived on May 2, 1947. It was 20th Century Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck who insisted it come out during the summer to attract bigger audiences. The studio's promos kept the fact that it was set during Christmas a secret.

"Stalag 17"

William Holden won his only Oscar in Billy Wilder's dark World War II comedy, which arrived in July 1953. The film is set in a German POW camp where one of the prisoners is considered a German traitor. The No. 1 suspect is the slick Sefton (Holden), a cynical, gruff prisoner who barters with the Germans for all sorts of goodies. Charlton Heston was the original choice to play the role of Sefton, but as the character got darker, Wilder went to Holden, who had starred in his 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard."

"Psycho"

Movie audiences probably didn't have a clue what to expect if they attended opening day — June 16, 1960 — of this Alfred Hitchcock masterwork. Filmgoers were accustomed to being scared by the master of suspense's films, but this black-and-white thriller about an innkeeper, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), with a mother fixation, was a shock to audiences. It ended up being Hitch's best-known film, and Janet Leigh earned an Oscar nomination as the ill-fated Bates Motel guest.

"Chinatown"

Roman Polanski had been living in Europe since the brutal murder by the Manson family of his pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, in 1969. But he agreed to return to Hollywood to direct this classic, which was released on June 20, 1974. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards — ultimately winning for Robert Towne's screenplay — "Chinatown," set in L.A. circa 1937, starred Jack Nicholson as private detective Jake Gittes and Faye Dunaway as the mysterious and beautiful Evelyn Mulwray.

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