Spanning the entire summer is a signature “Jaws” exhibition at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. Its large-scale show “‘Jaws’ at 50: A Deeper Dive” illuminates the special role the Island and its people had in creating a film that took the world by storm — and still does.
“We really want this exhibit to be seen through the lens of the Island,” says Curator of Exhibitions Anna Barber. “We started from the place of not wanting it just to be about the movie, but about how Martha’s Vineyard became Amity and the people who helped to make that happen.”
Barber and Associate Curator of Exhibitions Kate Logue bring the behind-the-scenes story to life through oral histories, fan art, film clips, and still images, including those taken by Vineyard journalist Edie Blake and Island artist Jackie Baer, who was an extra in the film. Barber shares, “Edie also took a number of behind-the-scenes photographs. She said, ‘Walking down the beach . . . was like watching a town pageant. It was fascinating to see so many everyday people from the community made up before the camera and lights.’”
Barber continues, “Edie and Jackie were capturing these moments. I think it’s important to bring people to the forefront besides Spielberg and actors who were part of it.”
In addition to photos of locals, we get to see Bruce, the mechanical shark, reminding us of its ominous lurking presence, signaled by the famed soundtrack. You can get up close and personal at this exhibit, staring straight into the creature’s mouth in a 1:1 scale model that runs from the tip of its pointy snout to its gills being made by the Arcana Workshop. The replica, sponsored by museum supporters Jennifer and Jonathan Blum, measures 72 x 45 x 45 inches. It is based on extensive research, behind-the-scenes photos, documentation, and another replica currently on display at the Atlantic White Shark Center in Chatham. “It’s a way for people to come face-to-face with Bruce,” says Barber.
Other artifacts include a barrel that was used onscreen, and the harpoon gun that production designer Joe Alves borrowed from Oak Bluffs Harbormaster Arthur Ben David during the filming.
Climb aboard a scale replica of the interior of the Orca that will be on exhibit from June 19 to 23 during the Museum’s Amity Homecoming Weekend festivities.
Standing before the evocative black-and-white and color photographs, designs, and storyboard drawings, we are transported back to 1974 and shown how various locations on the Island were transformed into the fictional Amity.
The simply designed newsprint poster for a “Jaws” showing at the Island Theater to benefit the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital reveals how the Vineyard capitalized on the film’s wild success to help its community.
Jaws had a $700,000 marketing budget (over $4.2 million in today’s dollars,) and plastic souvenir cup, with its menacing “Jaws” shark surfacing to devour Chrissie Watkins, is but one mementos from the blockbuster movie in the show.
The show also investigates shark science through interactive displays and conservation insights in partnership with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Barber says, “It’s about the awareness that we’re sharing the waters with great white sharks, both as life-imitating art and in appreciating how incredible sharks are.”
While the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles is doing a huge exhibition revisiting the film scene by scene, Barber reflects on the unique perspective the museum is taking. “This is where it happened. This is Ground Zero, and I hope that all the people who come leave with a better understanding of how the magic of that movie could not have occurred without the Island and its people. Without this place, there would be no ‘Jaws.’
“There’s a special kind of magic in this exhibition—where movie history meets Island memory. It’s a chance to see ‘Jaws’ not just as a film, but as a moment shaped by this place and its people.”
“‘Jaws’ at 50: A Deeper Dive” is on view at the M.V. Museum from May 24 through Sept. 7.
