There was a lot of reminiscing on Martha’s Vineyard this weekend, as the island celebrated 50 years of “Jaws.”
Filmed right here in Massachusetts, the summer blockbuster became a classic American movie.
Making “Jaws” wasn’t easy because of delays and cost overruns, but in the end, most agree: it works for both the Vineyard and Hollywood.
The vibe: 1975. The place: Oak Bluffs Harbor, with a Quint lookalike on the deck of his tribute to the Orca, which was destroyed in storage.
”It was sunk in the lagoon. They tried to pick it out. It broke its back in pieces,” Michael Sterling said.
Sterling recalls sneaking into a theater in Northern England to see “Jaws” with his mother as a kid. He was hooked, eventually building this smaller representation of the boat.
”This is not finished. It’s a labor of love because I work for a living as Quint would say,” Sterling said with a laugh.
The movie’s silver anniversary attracted big crowds, including actors Matt Hooper and Richard Dreyfuss, who received a hero’s reception.
”Kind of normal. That’s the way I wake up wherever I am, and there’s people standing around the bed, giving me a standing ovation. That’s usually how it works,” the actor said.
Jonathan Searles, now police chief in Oak Bluffs, had one of the more memorable scenes with his older brother. It was his only foray into films, as he followed in his father’s footsteps instead.
”If you’re going to have a little clip as an eight-year-old in the movie, I don’t think there’s any one that could be better than ‘Jaws.’”
”I was a carpenter on the island in 74,” said Marty Milner, who helped build sets, including one at State Beach. He also remembers the mechanical sharks named Bruce.
“They broke constantly. Nobody wanted to work inside the shark because it smelled disgusting. It was covered with slime. It smelled like low tide.”
A number of things have changed on the Vineyard over the last 50 years because of “Jaws.” What will the next 50 bring?
More ‘Jaws’ stories
Actor Richard Dreyfuss returns to the Vineyard to celebrate 50 years of ‘Jaws’
Think you know ‘Jaws’? Test your knowledge with this trivia as we mark the movie’s 50th anniversary
