First is Carl Gottlieb, screenwriter of “Jaws” and author of “The Jaws Log.” When we talked in 2001, he told several behind the scenes stories, including how Robert Shaw came up with the speech about being on the USS Indianapolis, how that’s not Richard Dreyfuss in the scene with the head coming out of the bottom of the boat, and how Roy Scheider really was scared by the shark coming out of the water in the famous “you’re gonna need a bigger boat” scene. Listen to our conversation here.
Next, Jamie Benning is a professional editor who, in his free time, works on “Filmumentaries,” which are like the greatest DVD commentary track you’ve ever seen. He’s done one for each of the first three “Star Wars” movies.
“Inside Jaws” is a project that took him 16 months to complete. It includes not just the original movie, but behind-the-scenes footage shot by locals, stories about the making of the movie by the principals (Steven Spielberg, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss) and members of the crew (the sound editor, the location casting scout, the director of photography).
I was so impressed by “Inside Jaws” that I invited Jamie to talk about it on my America Weekend show. I asked him where he got some of the footage, what he learned about the movie by making the Filmumentary, whether the original “Jaws” had the same impact on swimmers in his native England that it had here in the US, and what kind of feedback he’s gotten from Steven Spielberg. Listen to our conversation here.
Since Jamie doesn’t own the copyright to “Jaws,” he can’t make any money off of “Inside Jaws,” so he offers it for free online — and you can watch it right here…