By MICHAEL GINGOLD
When Matt Taylor’s JAWS: MEMORIES FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD was first published in 2011, it felt like the last word on one of the most troubled and most successful films of all time. It recounted the turbulent production of Steven Spielberg’s terrifying shark thriller through copious words from the Vineyard residents who assisted the filmmakers as well as a few of the latter, illustrated with a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes photos and other illustrations. This year, just to prove it is possible to improve on perfection, Taylor and Titan Books have issued a “Revised and Updated” edition containing even more memories and images.
One quick caveat: Adding all those new pics meant that some of those seen in the original publication have been removed, so completists will want to own both. The double dip is rewarded, however, with plenty of new observations from people ranging from assistant camera operator Jim (James A.) Contner (who went on to serve as DP on JAWS 3-D) to assorted locally hired crew and extras, plus new quotes from folks like Susan Murphy, part of the shark effects team. Among the new images are everything from photos of the construction of Quint’s boat the Orca to wonderfully candid you-are-there shots (like Spielberg showing Robert Shaw how to do the nails-on-the-chalkboard bit) to assorted production documents. The layout is also cleaner, with certain passages previously run as sidebars incorporated into the main text.
The end result is the same: An amazingly thorough chronicle of a long and complicated undertaking that resulted in an all-time classic, largely from the points of view of the Vineyarders who lived through it. Both in front of and behind the camera, these men, women and children brought so much to the film–and yet a large number of them went uncredited on it, making this 334-page document all the more valuable. Every JAWS fan knows about all the tsuris involving the malfunctioning mechanical shark, which is covered in every possible detail, but there are countless other nooks and crannies of the project revealed as well, and how the islanders contributed. “It takes a village” could easily be used as a subtitle here.
The recollections range from positive to not so much, though it’s easy to understand how exasperation could result as the filming dragged on months after schedule. Yet MEMORIES FROM MARTHA’S VINEYARD is also a manual for problem-solving, in which necessity repeatedly became the mother of invention and any number of unexpected developments and happy accidents resulted in memorable screen moments. Some of the interviewees recall being able to ply their trades for Hollywood, others look back on the excitement they felt as kids being part of a major movie, and their memories are conveyed as clearly as if these events happened yesterday. By the time you finish this most compulsively readable book, you not only feel you’ve learned everything there possibly is to know about the making of JAWS, but that you’ve gotten to know an entire community as well.
