June 20, 1975: Steven Spielberg’s new filmmade box office history and ruined the careers of anyone hoping toopen up a hot-dog or lemonade stand on the beach in the summer of ‘75.
Why? Because it’s awfully hard to sell hot dogs and lemonade on a deserted beach, and after Jaws, some of us weren’t going anywhere nearbodies ofwater large enough to hold even a small shark.
Jaws, (like Star Wars just two years later) represented “something new” in motion pictures. The industry had been making “horror” films for years, along with action films and mysteries, but Spielberg’s adaptation of Peter Benchley’s 1973 novel about a seaside resort terrorized by a giant man-eating shark represented something new.
The film stands upfairly well over time, assuming the watcher can forgive the somewhat outdated special effects. Doubt me?WatchJaws andgo swimmingafter dark in water too deep to stand up in.Dollars to doughnuts you tell yourself”there’s no shark in this water,” at least once. Yes, it’s ’70’s cheesy in places, but that’s all part of the fun.
Tip of the horns, History.com
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