Scott Simon talks with Marie Vega of Weymouth, Mass., and Lydia Mullan of Cambridge, Mass., about the movie “Jaws.” Both saw it for the very first time for our series, Motion pictures You Missed out on.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It’s time for Movies You Missed.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
HUMPHREY BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) Here’s looking at you, kid.
CLARK GABLE: (As Rhett Butler) Frankly, my dear, I do not provide a damn.
MARLON BRANDO: (As Terry Malloy) I might have been a competitor.
BETTE DAVIS: (As Margo Channing) Fasten your seat belts.
CUBA GOODING JR: (As Rod Tidwell) Show me the cash.
ROBERT DE NIRO: (As Travis Bickle) You speaking to me?
ESTELLE REINER: (As Older Lady Consumer) I’ll have what she’s having.
OPRAH WINFREY: (As Sofia) I ain’t never believed I needed to fight in my own home.
BRANDO: (As Stanley Kowalski) Stella.
SIMON: This week, take care in the water – dun, dun dun.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “JAWS”)
ROY SCHEIDER: (As Martin Brody) You’re going to need a larger boat.
SIMON: “Jaws,” 1975, directed by Steven Spielberg, of course, stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. A trio in the hunt for a huge terrific white shark is scaring the New England coastline over the 4 of July. “Jaws” invented the modern-day smash hit. Just about everyone in the world has seen it, other than Marie Vega, a medical insurance employee in Weymouth, Mass.
. Thanks for being with us.
MARIE VEGA: Thank you for having me.
SIMON: And Lydia Mullan, editor of a sailing publication that remains in Cambridge. It’s called SAIL in Cambridge, Mass.
. Thanks quite for being with us.
LYDIA MULLAN: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: First of all, I dislike to put you on the area, Marie. No, I do not. That’s what this section is everything about. How did you miss “Jaws”?
VEGA: When I was a kid, my more youthful brother hesitated of sharks and was absolutely persuaded that they lived under his bed. Therefore my mother prohibited us all from enjoying the motion picture. And anything associated to sharks, we were not permitted to do it because it would terrify my brother.
SIMON: Oh.
VEGA: (Laughter).
SIMON: And Lydia Mullen, how did you prevent it?
MULLAN: Yeah, actually it was my mom as well (laughter). I was taking cruising lessons as a kid as part of our, like, local boat club. And my mama was really fretted that if I saw “Jaws,” I would give up because I ‘d be too afraid. And I think her plan exercised due to the fact that I’m still cruising and still working at SAIL magazine now.
SIMON: Well, we asked you both to see the film. Let’s take it in turn, if we could. Marie, then Lydia, what did you believe?
VEGA: I actually type of liked it. I didn’t believe I would. I believe it holds up pretty well, comparatively. You know, like, I have actually seen other movies possibly later on in life that don’t stand up. However this one appears to have. I really liked it.
MULLAN: Yeah, I was expecting it to be a bit more, like, horror and a bit more gory, I think. And there’s a lot more plot than I believed there would be. I liked it also.
SIMON: Yeah, there’s a great deal of plot as a matter of reality.
MULLAN: (Laughter) There’s a great deal of plot.
SIMON: They apparently had all type of production issues with the mechanical shark that somebody nicknamed Bruce. You know, a lot, obviously, worldwide of CGI has actually been created ever since. But did the unique effects hold up for both of you?
MULLAN: Yeah, I thought the shark – particularly when it remains in the water and swimming, I think still looks quite reasonable. I don’t know what a shark attack appears like in particular, however I believe when it leaps up on the boat and sort of simply begins whipping about, maybe that looks a little bit fake. However when it’s in the water, I think it’s pretty good.
VEGA: Yeah, I concur. I – when the shark is swimming, definitely it looks like a shark. However it was a little stiff coming out of the water there. It just was like – you can tell it was animatronic at that point.
SIMON: It was also worn out, I should believe – right? – coming up out of the water.
VEGA: I would think of (laughter).
SIMON: I, of course, was going – dun, dun, dun, dun – because everyone understands what you’re talking about. It’s a John Williams score, I believe, isn’t it?
VEGA: Uh-huh.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS’ “JAWS”)
MULLAN: It’s renowned. I think – I imply, even having never seen the movie, I recognized it. The entire thing throughout was quite moving. And I think he utilizes silence actually well as well, in addition to the loud spots of it. That’s – I mean, that’s one of the huge things I observed in viewing the film, was actually the audio of it.
VEGA: Same. It set the tone so well just from, like, the opening credits, even. You were already on the edge of your seat.
SIMON: I collect, Marie Vega, that you discovered the movie very resonant for our times?
VEGA: I believe so. I took a look at it as sort of, like, a research study of simply how people react to emergencies and, you know, most recently, like, the pandemic, you know? And it was truly interesting to me to see the mayor’s reaction to the shark and attempting to, like, sweep it under the rug. And …
SIMON: Yeah. Let’s not get rash now and close everything down.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “JAWS”)
MURRAY HAMILTON: (As Mayor Larry Vaughn) Look, we depend on the summertime people here for our extremely lives.
RICHARD DREYFUSS: (As Matt Hooper) You’re not going to have a summer unless you deal with this problem.
HAMILTON: (As Mayor Larry Vaughn) And if you close those beaches, we’re finished.
SCHEIDER: (As Martin Brody) We’re not just going to have to close the beach. We’re going to have to work with somebody to eliminate the shark. I suggest, we’re going to need to tell the Coast Guard. We’re going to need to get shark repellent.
DREYFUSS: (As Matt Hopper) Mister, you need to contract a shark research study panel.
SCHEIDER: (As Martin Brody) We’re going to have to put extra deputies on since there ain’t absolutely nothing worldwide that’s going to come in here.
DREYFUSS: (As Matt Hopper) You need to call this entire harbor with 100 gauge …
SCHEIDER: (As Martin Brody) We have actually got to invest money to save what we’ve got.
HAMILTON: (As Mayor Larry Vaugh) I don’t believe either one of you recognize with our issues.
DREYFUSS: (As Matt Hopper) I believe that I recognize with the truth that you are going to disregard this particular problem till it swims up and bites you in the ass. Now wait a 2nd, wait a second …
MULLAN: Yeah. I mean, I didn’t necessarily think about it in those terms when I was viewing it. However as Marie’s discussing that, I think it totally rings true. There’s absolutely, you understand, a group of people sounding alarm bells and folks not listening to them – I imply, I guess in terms of pandemic, however also in regards to the climate change and also in terms of much of our other crises. So, yeah, I believe it’s an intriguing lens to take a look at modern times through.
SIMON: Lydia Mullan and Marie Vega, two brand-new fans of “Jaws,” thanks for being with us.
MULLAN: Thank you.
VEGA: Thank you a lot. This was enjoyable.
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SIMON: And if there’s a motion picture that you missed, you can inform all of us about it by going to n.pr/ moviesyoumissed.
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Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/09/1110667129/movies-you-missed-jaws