New England island where ‘Jaws’ was filmed embraces its role in movie history
August 1, 2024
OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — It’s been a half-century since Steven Spielberg’s landmark thriller “Jaws” made millions of Americans wonder if it would ever be safe to go back in the water again.
One of the popular beaches on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where the blockbuster 1975 movie “Jaws” was filmed.
As I watched beachgoers frolic in the New England waters where the blockbuster movie was filmed, it’s clear that fears of a 25-foot killer shark snacking on their extremities have vanished like a six-pack of Narragansett Beer in Quint’s galley on the “Orca.”
Martha’s Vineyard, the affluent island 7 miles south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts where the movie was filmed, has embraced its role in movie history – even if it was depicted in “Jaws” as a smorgasbord table for an ill-tempered sea-monster.
A “Jaws” t-shirt for sale at a giftshop in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. The movie was filmed on the island 50 years ago.
Stroll through Oak Bluffs, a touristy beach town of about 5,000 residents where some of the movie’s scenes were filmed, and you’ll see shark-themed bars and restaurants, “Jaws”-related souvenirs for sale, and likely meet locals – known as “islanders” – who gladly will recount their roles as extras in the film.
Even the Martha’s Vineyard team in the prestigious New England Collegiate Baseball League – a summer showcase for some of the nation’s top college talent – proudly goes by the nickname “Sharks.”
Martha’s Vineyard has embraced its role in movie history, even naming its local baseball team the “Sharks.”
Like many good horror movies, “Jaws” created fear that wasn’t exactly based on fact. Shark attacks in these waters are extremely rare. Since the year 1900, there have been only two fatalities in the state of Massachusetts, although one happened as recently as 2018 in nearby Wellfleet on Cape Cod. In contrast, a total of 18 people ended up as fish-food in “Jaws” and its three sequels.
Martha’s Vineyard took on the stage name of “Amity” — a fictitious island off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. — during the filming of the movie. Even though the story took place around the July 4th holiday, the movie was filmed in the month of May, which meant that the actors and extras had to endure chilly temperatures during the beach scenes.
Downtown Edgartown on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, which took the stage name of “Amity” during the filming of “Jaws.”
The first islander I encountered, a tour guide named Phil, told me he played the part of a panicked teenager running out of the water during one of the many shark-scares. “Just look for the kid wearing the red cutoffs,” he said, adding that his main memory of being in the movie was how frigid the conditions were.
Another islander, a nine-year-old boy at the time named Jonathan Searle, actually had a speaking role in the movie. He was one of the two pranksters who swam around with a cardboard fin, sending everyone in the vicinity into mass hysteria. “He made me do it,” Searle said in the movie as he pointed to his real-life older brother while police aimed their rifles at the siblings.
Turns out, Searle grew up to become the police chief of Oak Bluffs, the second-largest town on Martha’s Vineyard. Ironically, in 2008 Searle arrested a man on disorderly conduct charges for doing exactly the same thing he had done in the movie.
Left: A young Jonathan Searle points at his older brother in the 1975 movie “Jaws.” Right: Searle in 2022 being sworn in as the police chief of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard (photo courtesy of MV Times).
During a three-hour tour via minivan, Phil pointed out several sites on the island that appeared in the movie. We stopped first at the Gay Head Light, a lighthouse originally constructed in 1799 that’s on the western tip of Martha’s Vineyard.
It appears in “Jaws” during a scene in which Amity’s pompous Mayor Vaughn pressures Chief Brody to keep the beaches open during the busy summer season, despite several shark attacks.
Left: The historic Gay Head Light in a “Jaws” scene in which the Amity mayor pressures Chief Brody to keep the beaches open. Right: Gay Head today.
The lighthouse, one of several seen in the movie, is close to the famous Aquinnah Cliffs, the most visited tourist attraction on the island and one of the prettiest viewpoints in all of New England.
The cliffs were carved by glaciers millions of years ago and feature multi-colored swaths of clay rocks overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. In 1965, the site — then called Gay Head Cliffs — was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Park Service.
The Gay Head Light is perched near the Aquinnah Cliffs on the western tip of Martha’s Vineyard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
After visiting the cliffs, we drove into Edgartown, the largest city (population: 5,000) on Martha’s Vineyard. The town, once a major whaling port, now has an economy built on tourism and looks pretty much the same as it did when the movie was filmed. Edgartown’s also a short distance from Chappaquiddick Island, where Ted Kennedy’s automobile accident took the life of Mary Jo Kopechne in 1969, greatly altering the trajectory of American politics.
I walked past the Town Hall on Main Street; a scene inside the building was filmed with Mayor Vaughn, Chief Brody and anxious townspeople trying to figure out how to salvage their summer tourist season in the wake of several shark attacks. It was here that Quint — a grizzled fisherman played by Robert Shaw — made his first appearance in the movie and offered to kill the shark for $10,000.
One of the most famous scenes in “Jaws” was filmed inside the Edgartown Town Hall on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
“For that, you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing,” he sneered in one of the movie’s most memorable lines.
On the drive along Beach Road from Edgartown to Oak Bluffs, we passed by the American Legion Memorial Bridge, more commonly known as the “Jaws Bridge.” It’s where the chilling shark-attack scene in an estuary was filmed.
The “Jaws Bridge” on the road connecting Edgartown with Oak Bluffs is where one of the shark-attack scenes was filmed.
Technically, it’s prohibited to jump off the bridge, which is only about five yards above the water, depending on the tide. But that doesn’t stop hordes of locals and tourists alike from taking the plunge. It’s become an island tradition of sorts.
As I walked through downtown Oak Bluffs to catch a bus going back to where my cruise ship was docked, I noticed a vintage movie theater called The Strand. I learned that it’s been showing movies since 1915, a dozen years before “talkies” first debuted in American cinema.
A half-century after it first opened in theaters, “Jaws” is still on the bill at the historic Strand Theater in downtown Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard.
Out of curiosity, I crossed Oak Bluffs Avenue to find out what movie was currently playing at The Strand. As I got closer to the theater, I saw something that shouldn’t have surprised me — a movie poster with a menacing mouth of teeth and two beady eyes staring back at me.
Yes, after all these years, “Jaws” still clenches onto the imagination — and fears — of anyone who dares to take a dip anywhere other than a swimming pool.
© 2024 Dan Fellner
