Cold Open

It’s October 6th, 1974.

A young, up-and-coming film director walks through the departures terminal at Boston International Airport. The director has just finished shooting a big-budget action movie, and after a long and grueling production, he is finally going home.

The director glances up at the departures board as the board clicks and changes, and he hears a boarding call for his seven o’clock flight to Los Angeles.

The director quickens his pace, struggling with his suitcase as he strides toward the gate. There, the director finds himself replaying every moment of the past 159 days: the constant prop malfunctions and script rewrites, the difficult actors, the endless re-shoots and delays…

Beads of sweat break out on his forehead. Suddenly feeling dizzy, the director takes hold of a railing to steady himself. He pictures the stern faces of the studio executives who put their faith in him, and to whom he will now have to explain how a movie that was supposed to cost only $4 million, ended up costing more than twice that.

Sensing the onset of a panic attack, and fearing he might collapse or throw up… the director ducks into the nearest bathroom.

He turns on the faucet and splashes his face with cold water. Then he looks at himself in the mirror. At just 27, Steven Spielberg only has one mainstream credit to his name: a commercial flop called The Sugarland Express. This latest picture was supposed to be Steven’s big break – and he blew it. The best-case scenario now is he goes back to directing low-budget B-movies or made-for-TV thrillers. The panic rises in him as he studies his own gloomy expression in the mirror. He keeps thinking over and over: “no one will ever trust me to make another film in Hollywood ever again.”  

Steven Spielberg had 2 months and $4 million to make Jaws, a thriller about a shark that terrorizes an island town. But after issues with the script, personal rivalries between co-stars, and the countless challenges of shooting the majority of the film at sea, Jaws ended up taking 5 months to shoot and cost nearly $9 million – more than double the original budget. By the end of the ordeal, Steven Spielberg believed his career was dead in the water. 

But hitting screens in the summer of 1975, Jaws will become an immediate sensation – grossing a higher box office than any movie before, and giving birth to the concept of a “summer blockbuster”. Steven Spielberg will be catapulted into stardom, and the movie industry will be changed forever, following the cinematic release of Jaws on June 20th, 1975.

Intro

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is June 20th, 1975: Jaws Hits U.S. Movie Theaters.

Act One: Pre-Production

It’s June 1973 in Los Angeles – two years before Jaws is released.

A young man walks through the gates of Universal Studios, his long hair bouncing with each confident stride. Steven Spielberg is in his mid-20s. He’s just finished directing his first mainstream motion picture; a crime caper called The Sugarland Express. And as he walks across the studio lot, Steven radiates the youthful glow of a young director at the start of his career, full of promise and potential.

Steven has always wanted a career in Hollywood. During his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona, he would spend every weekend in the movie theater, entranced by the floating images on the silver screen. For Steven, the cinema was like a refuge – a place where a weedy kid from an Orthodox Jewish family could go to escape school bullies, a troubled home life, and the sweltering Arizona heat. And while other kids wanted to be movie stars, Steven idolized the directors, those mysterious figures whose names appeared fleetingly at the top of the end credits; names like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Stanley Kubrick.

Steven dreamed of the day when his name would be up there, too.

So after graduating high school, Steven moved to Los Angeles to study film. And within months, he got his big break. A student film he directed caught the eye of a producer at Universal, and before long, Steven was offered a contract directing television. Still, only in his early twenties, Steven moved on to TV movies, and then, in 1973, he directed his first theatrical feature: The Sugarland Express.

Today, he’s going to meet with the producers of the film, Richard Zanuck and David Brown, to discuss potential upcoming projects. Zanuck and Brown greet Steven warmly, and the three sit around swapping ideas for a while. After about an hour, Steven stands to leave. But he notices the manuscript of an unpublished novel half-hidden beneath clutter on his desk.

He asks, “What’s this?”

Zanuck and Brown exchange a glance. They recently acquired the rights to an unpublished novel called Jaws, written by the author Peter Benchley. Jaws is a story about a great white shark that terrorizes a peaceful island town, and the local police chief is tasked with killing it. Zanuck and Brown think Jaws could make a great movie, but so far, they haven’t been able to find anyone suitable – or willing – to direct. 

Jaws is set largely on the water, and its central character is a 20-foot shark – both of which present logistical problems. A movie like this could make or break a director’s career though. And for Jaws to succeed, Zanuck and Brown need a young director willing to take risks, someone with nothing to lose and everything to prove. And now – as Zanuck and Brown look across their desk at Steven Spielberg – they realize the young man in front of them is perfect for the position. Right there, they offer him the job. Steven enthusiastically agrees. But he has no idea what he’s getting himself into.

***

A year later, on April 22nd, 1974, Steven again sits across from Richard Zanuck and David Brown; this time on the sun-dappled terrace of the Bel Air Hotel. But as Steven reads through the latest draft of the Jaws script, he’s far from enthusiastic. He looks up on the page, his eyes full of panic, saying: “There’s no way I can start shooting in a week! The script isn’t ready.”

Zanuck and Brown shift uncomfortably in their seats. Since acquiring the rights to adapt Jaws into a movie, the process has been riddled with problems, starting with the script. The first draft was written by the novel’s author, Peter Benchley. But Zanuck and Brown didn’t like Peter’s adaptation. So they brought in a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright named Howard Sackler to revise Peter’s screenplay. But even Sackler couldn’t get it right. The script was missing something, but no one can say exactly what.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Executives at Universal want Jaws to be made as soon as possible; to capitalize on the hype surrounding the novel, which was published earlier in the year. If they delay any further, the public might lose interest, and the movie could be a flop. Zanuck and Brown are feeling the pressure. And with just one week until filming is scheduled to start, they still haven’t got a workable script… 

But Steven Spielberg has an idea. He flips through the screenplay and realizes it's missing one key ingredient: humor. So he uses the reception phone to call his friend, comedy writer Carl Gottlieb.

Carl arrives at the Bel Air Hotel later that afternoon. Steven explains that the script needs to be rewritten, and he thinks Carl’s the man to do it. Carl is flattered and agrees to the job. But Steven warns him they don’t have much time; in fact, Carl will have to join them in Massachusetts to write even while the movie is being shot. Carl agrees asking, “when do we leave?” Steven looks at him apologetically and says “tomorrow.”

The following day, as the plane begins its descent into Boston, Steven gazes out the window at the vast, glittering ocean. He is struck by an uncharacteristic pang of self-doubt. The studio has given Steven 55 days and $4 million dollars to complete the shoot. But without a finished script or a complete cast, that seems like an almost impossible challenge. And as the plane screeches onto the tarmac, a terrible realization hits Steven with a sudden, stark clarity – if this movie sinks, so will his career. 

Act Two: The Shark Is Broken

It’s June 1974, a few miles off the Massachusetts coast – two months into the Jaws shoot.

A rickety old fishing boat bobs around on the surface of the ocean. An idle film crew stands on deck, shivering and stamping their feet to keep warm. Steven Spielberg sits in his folding chair, impatiently tapping his toe as he manically chews gum.

Steven has just received bad news from his production designer, Joe Alves. Before Jaws started shooting, Joe brought Steven designs for a giant animatronic shark made out of fiberglass. Straight away, Steven had doubts. He worried that the shark wasn’t frightening enough; that it would elicit laughter, instead of screams. Steven was also worried about the logistical issues of filming this unwieldy contraption underwater.

Maybe because it had such sharp teeth, Steven decided to call the shark “Bruce” – after his attorney, Bruce Ramer. But despite the affectionate nickname, Steven despises the mechanical shark, which breaks down practically every day. Nearly everyone on set has grown accustomed to hearing the dreaded words: “The shark is broken.”

And today, they’re supposed to be filming one of the most important scenes in the movie – the moment when the shark leaps out of the water onto the deck of the boat. But once again, “Bruce” has broken down. Now, they have to wait around until Joe and his team of engineers can fix it. Steven knows every delay costs the studio more money. They’ve already blown their budget by several million. If things continue down this path, Universal might pull the plug on the whole picture.

Steven removes his baseball cap and runs his fingers through his long, brown hair. Since arriving at Martha’s Vineyard, where the movie is being shot, everything about this production has been a complete, unmitigated nightmare. Steven spent the week before the first day of shooting re-writing the script with Carl Gottlieb. But they couldn’t get it finished on time. Sometimes Carl will be frantically finalizing a scene near minutes before the actors are meant to be performing them. On other occasions, they have been forced to rely on the actors’ improvisational skills. 

What’s more, filming at sea is becoming impossible. The boat they’re filming on constantly springs leaks, and because it’s still early in the summer, the water is freezing cold. Whenever they shoot scenes in which the actors are submerged, the risk of hypothermia is a very real threat.

One of the few silver linings is the cast, which came together at the last minute.

Roy Scheider plays Martin Brody, the local police chief tasked with killing the shark. Richard Dreyfus plays Mr. Hooper, a marine biologist brought in to assist. And finally, Robert Shaw plays Quint, the grizzled fisherman hired to lead the shark hunt. They are all talented actors, but they’re proving tough to work with, largely because of the bitter on-set feud developing between Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw, and there's a good reason why.

Steven hears raised voices from inside the boat’s cabin. The door bangs open and Robert Shaw staggers out, a bottle of bourbon in hand. The veteran English actor lurches up to Steven’s chair. Steven can smell the booze on Shaw’s breath as he leans in close and snarls: “I’ve just been teaching that young punk some basic stage-craft.” Then he stumbles off.

Moments later, Richard Dreyfus emerges from the cabin, looking ruffled. He strides up to Steven and begins going off about his belligerent, drunken co-star. Steven tries to be understanding. But he has bigger problems. They’re losing daylight – if they don’t get something in the can today, they’ll be even more behind, even more over budget.

To Steven's relief, finally, the shark is fixed and the crew gets ready to shoot. Steven calls “action!” and the scene gets underway. Roy Scheider crouches on deck, shoveling shark bait into the choppy ocean. Suddenly, the mechanical shark rears from the water, teeth bared. Roy stares in horror. There’s a long pause, and then Roy decides to improvise a line, a line that will become the most famous in the entire movie. Without taking his eyes off the shark, he says: “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

The never-ending issues on set cause Steven sleepless nights and countless migraines, but they also add to the movie. The incomplete script leads to brilliant moments of improvisation like these. And the real-life animosity between Shaw and Dreyfus adds to the characters’ fraught relationship on screen.

Even the malfunctioning shark proves to be a blessing in disguise.

When Steven reviews the footage, he chooses to cut many of the scenes featuring the mechanical shark. Instead, he decides to hint at the shark’s presence by filming the surface of the ocean and overlaying an ominous score by composer, John Williams. This editorial decision will prove to be a masterstroke; the combination of cinematography and music will create the nail-biting suspense for which Jaws is now famous.

By the time filming ends on October 6th, Steven’s nerves are shredded. He has no idea whether or not he pulled it off. He leaves Martha’s Vineyard, traumatized by the 159-day shoot, and filled with uncertainty about the future of his young career. Soon, however, Jaws will hit the cinemas, terrifying audiences across the world, and turning Steven Spielberg into the most famous director in Hollywood.

Act Three: Premiere

It’s March 26th, 1975, in Dallas, Texas; two months before Jaws is released. 

The lights go down in a movie theatre in downtown. A hush descends over the audience as the opening bars of John Williams’ heart-stopping score fill the darkened room. Tonight is the first screening of the rough cut of Steven Spielberg’s thriller, Jaws, and nobody knows what to expect.

Steven stands at the back of the theatre, damp with sweat, too nervous to sit down. The director unscrews a bottle of Valium with trembling fingers and tips two pills down his throat. Before Jaws is officially released on June 20th, Steven wanted to first gauge the audience's reaction. He has no idea how his movie will be received. He fears the mechanical shark could still be a laughingstock. 

Elsewhere in the room, the film’s producers, Richard Zanuck, and David Brown are biting their fingernails. It’s not just Steven’s reputation on the line tonight. If Jaws is a flop, Zanuck and Brown will have to answer to their superiors at Universal Studios, who won’t be pleased about $9 million down the drain.

But as the film plays, Zanuck and Brown’s spirits start to lift. The audience is clearly enjoying the film – laughing and screaming at all the right moments. And after the credits roll, Steven meets Zanuck and Brown in the lobby. The trio embrace, slapping each other on the back and laughing with relief and jubilation; utterly convinced that Jaws is going to be a hit.

But Jaws exceeds their wildest expectations.

Two months later, on June 20th, 1975, Jaws arrives in movie theaters across America. And just like at the test screening in Dallas, audiences are blown away by the film. In its opening weekend alone, Jaws grosses over $7 million, the equivalent of over $38 million today. And that number keeps going up. Soon, Jaws surpasses both The Godfather and The Exorcist as the highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in almost $500 million at the box office.

Part of the success is due to the unprecedented, multi-million dollar marketing campaign Universal Studios rolled out ahead of the movie’s summer release. The record-breaking box-office numbers are also due to the fact that the studio decided to show Jaws in almost 500 theaters across the U.S. – a much wider release than any movie before it.

And soon, the other Hollywood studios will follow suit and will begin releasing movies in the summer with big-budget marketing campaigns and nationwide releases. The “summer blockbuster” is born; a trend that began following the release of Jaws on June 20th, 1975.

Outro

Next on History Daily. June 21st, 1913. 20-year-old daredevil Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick becomes the first woman to parachute from an airplane.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Mollie Baack. 

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner.

Executive Producers are Steven Walters for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.