Martha’s Vineyard celebrates 50 years of ‘Jaws’
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - On June 20, 1975, movie history was changed forever when Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' was released in theaters and made everyone think twice before swimming in the ocean.
Hollywood was introduced to the Martha's Vineyard 50 years ago, redefining the island and the movies.
"Jaws and the Vineyard are forever tied together, but there would be no Jaws without Martha's Vineyard," said Anna Barber with the Martha's Vineyard Museum.
In 1974, Steven Spielberg and company arrived, plagued with problem, budgets and mechanical shark named Bruce.
"The shark kept breaking down. The crew really didn't know how filmed the movie in open water so much. Spielberg was 27-years-old," Barber shared.
The Martha's Vineyard Museum has a special exhibit for Amity Weekend, featuring the mayor's blazer, a barrel used to corral the shark and a mold of Ben Gardner's head, played by the late Craig Kingsbury, an island insider.
"He wasn't just in the movie as Ben Gardner. He helped to form the character of Quint, who, without Craig Kingsbury, the Quint that Robert Shaw played would be totally different," Barber expressed.
Doctor Robert Nevin, another Vineyard luminary, played the medical examiner who altered his findings about a shark attack.
His grandson, James Hagerty, who is now the Town Administrator for Edgartown, still has a shark belt buckle that was made for him and other islanders with speaking roles.
"It's a classic, iconic Americana movie. That movie will be around for the next 50 years, next hundred years, absolutely," Hagerty declared.
Art does have a way of imitating life on the island. They've closed places like South Beach because of sharks, but not the way Hollywood thinks.
"Several times in the summer will pull everyone out of the water, close down the beach for a couple hours, it's never that discussion, 'Are you going to close down the beach?' and I say, 'No, it's Fourth of July weekend. We're not going do that,'" Hagerty remarked.
