On June 20, 1975:

… the movie Jaws was released in the United States, and this year, the Great White movie celebrates its 30th birthday.

The story of the filming of this movie is legendary – the broken shark, the running over-budget, the nuttiness … The first time the mechanical shark appeared, it burst out of the water tail first before sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He was not a cooperative shark. He was a “Method” shark, perhaps.

Steven Spielberg named the shark Bruce, after his lawyer.

He’d say to the mechanics: “So how’s Bruce? Is he almost fixed?”

Spielberg, when he came to my school, described the first preview. He stood in the back of some movie theatre in, oh, Texas, or Iowa … somewhere far far from “the business’. He couldn’t relax. He couldn’t sit. He needed to stand, and feel the vibe of the audience … see how it was going from that perspective. At one point, a gentleman got up and started walking for the door. Spielberg’s thought-process was, immediately: “That’s it. The film’s too violent. Nobody’s gonna like it. This is bad. I shouldn’t have done this… Serves me right …” And then … the man began running up the aisle. Spielberg then thought: “Oh my God, he’s not just walking out, he’s running out – this is a disaster!” And then – just before he made it to the door, the gentleman got down on one knee, and vomited all over the carpet. Spielberg saw his life flash before his eyes. He thought his career was over before it had even begun. But then: THE MAN WENT BACK TO HIS SEAT. hahaha Spielberg knew, when that poor vomiting man went back to his seat for MORE, that this was going to be an enormous hit, and his life would change.

And lastly – and this is kind of a famous piece of trivia – but still I enjoy it: Spielberg was, what, 25 years old? Okay? He had done a couple of good things, things that had got him noticed … but getting offered this direction job was a break. However, he said, when they offered it to him: “I will only do this movie if I don’t show the shark for over an hour into the film.” The producers and studio heads fought back on this. What good is a movie about a big shark if you never see the shark??? Spielberg, of course, knew what the Greeks knew, what Shakespeare knew: off-stage violence is far more terrifying. It balloons in the audience’s imaginations … If you never see that shark, then you will never EVER be able to relax. Spielberg (already kind of a genius at negotiation – he never EVER threatens to walk out on a deal unless he is ready to actually walk out on the deal) was ready to walk. The producers said, “Are you serious? No shark until an hour in??” He said, “Yes. I won’t do it unless you agree to let me film it that way.” Needless to say, the producers caved … Spielberg did what he wanted … and scared the bejesus out of everybody. You don’t have to see that damn shark. It’s also so perfect for the material – because the shark emerges from the deep – If you’re swimming in the ocean, you couldn’t see the shark coming either. Spielberg, using that device, put the audience in the ocean with the people in the movie. Terrifying.

Anyway: happy 30th birthday, Bruce!!