Steven Spielberg

1 Comment Posted on Jaws, John Williams, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, Steven Spielberg, Universal Studios

Fifty years later, “Jaws” still bites

It’s hard to believe that half a century has passed since “Jaws” was released in July of 1975.  I was in Palm Springs with my family when we went to see it at the Plaza theatre.  I took the paperback of the Peter Benchley novel with me so that I could finish it in our motel room before seeing the movie.  It remains one of the most memorable film experiences I’ve ever had.

Earlier this month I watched “Jaws” for the first time in many years along with my 21-year-old son who had never seen it.

In order to temper unrealistic expectations on his part regarding a 50-year-old film, I explained to him that “Jaws” was made 20 years before CGI came on to the scene.  Spielberg was one of the first directors to use CGI for 1994’s “Jurassic Park.”  Even then, he insisted on using practical effects with the dinosaurs and not rely solely on computers.

Smartly, Spielberg reveals little of the shark until the climax.  When it is finally shown as it breaches onto the boat swallowing Shaw’s Quint, the use of a mechanical puppet is frightening since he is actually interacting with a real object and not reacting to nothing but a green screen.My son came away impressed.

What elevates “Jaws” from other excellent movies is the impact its success had on the movie industry.

The summer blockbuster.  Before “Jaws,” studios did not release their best pictures during the summer due to many theatres not having air-conditioning.  Once “Jaws” opened to packed theatres, it became clear that people would stand in line for an “event” film no matter the weather.  “Jaws” earned $260 million domestically in its initial release.  Two years later, “Star Wars” would open Memorial Day weekend and surpass that mark, earning over $300 million.  Thus, the summer blockbuster was born.

Wide release.  Eschewing the common exhibition practice of opening a film in a small number of theatres, gradually expanding over several weeks, “Jaws” opened in over 400 theatres.  This greatly boosted its earnings at a faster clip (this was before multiplexes became commonplace).

Trailers on TV.  It was uncommon to advertise new movies on television.  Universal Studios aired commercials a few days before the release of “Jaws” thus generating high interest. 

Just as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 “Psycho” made people afraid to take showers, “Jaws” made people fearful of swimming in the ocean.

Additionally, “Jaws” catapulted the careers of Steven Spielberg, John Williams (who would go on and score the bulk of Spielberg’s canon), Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss.  Before “Jaws,” Robert Shaw had established himself as an in-demand character actor for a quarter of a century which explains why his name had the highest position in the credits.  Sadly, his career would be cut short, dying three years later at age 51from a heart attack.

Making “Jaws” took longer and cost more than expected.   Since much of the film was shot in Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, the sea water damaged the 25-foot mechanical shark that was the film’s main prop leading to numerous delays.

The original 55 days of shooting tripled to 159, while the $3.5 million budget ballooned to $12 million.  A new documentary on the making of the movie depicts the stress that Spielberg was under, especially when hearing that studio bosses were thinking of shutting down the production.

Once filming finished, Spielberg had a full-blown panic attack.  He thought he would never work in Hollywood again.

Spielberg revealed that it took him years to overcome this anxiety, often having nightmares even after achieving great success.  To overcome his trauma, he would secretly board the Orca boat, part of the “Jaws” stop on the Universal Hollywood Studios tour, and lay down in the cabin to calm himself.

Leave a comment Posted on Indiana Jones, Jaws, John Williams, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Superman

Memories by John Williams

As a teenager, the section of any record store where I spent the majority of time browsing was the film soundtracks.  Most of my albums were scores by my favorite composers:  Bernard Herrman, Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman, and John Williams.

At that time, one could not see a film again unless it was shown on television or re-released in movie theaters.  So, I’d play an album on my record player and allow the music to wash over me as I reclined on my bed staring up at the blank ceiling, letting the musical leitmotivs conjure up specific scenes from the film.

This month, a new documentary premiered, “Music by John Williams,” chronicling the maestro’s life story.  Its subtitle could be “With Collaboration by Steven Spielberg” because in nearly all of his 34 films, the film director has worked with Williams.

It is an unprecedented nearly half a century of work that began in 1975 with “Jaws” and was last renewed in 2022 with “The Fabelmans.”  When they first worked together, Spielberg was 29 and Williams 43.

During this second half of his life, Williams found a second career as a conductor, first as the principal conductor with the Boston Pops Orchestra for 14 years, then as a guest conductor with orchestras around the world (he’ll head the Berlin Philharmonic in June 2025).

Try to imagine any of these movies without hearing in your head their musical themes:  “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Superman,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.,” “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List,” or “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Every time a person sees a film released by Universal, one also hears the fanfare music by Williams.  That goes for the Olympics and NBC News.  And to think he began this body of work in his mid-40’s.  Little did he know his life was only at its mid-point.

His most stirring pieces can rouse one’s spirits:  Superman flying through the sky, the Jedi fighters diving deep into the Death Star, Indiana Jones dashing away from danger onto a plane, the boys’ bicycling across the moon.  His most quiet passages can bring tears:  Elliot saying goodbye to E.T., Schindler at a loss upon receiving a gold watch from the Jewish people whose lives he saved.

Despite technological advances in devices that could write the notes for him on a scoresheet, he adheres to his laborious habit of writing down each note by hand.  And, with few exceptions, chooses not to employ electronic instruments because, as he says, you can’t hear a musician’s soul through a synthesizer.

Of course, there are scores of films Williams worked on that aren’t memorable.  There are critics who view his work as derivative and schmaltzy.  But there’s no denying that some of his compositions will never be forgotten.

John Williams and Steven Spielberg.

Leave a comment Posted on fathers, Steven Spielberg

Fifty Years Later I Can Still Hear My Father’s Voice

This upcoming January 27th will mark the 50th anniversary of my father’s death.  That is a half a century ago when I was 14 years old.

Life’s not fair as we all know.  Some parents die early but others live long.  For example, director Steven Spielberg’s father died in 2020 at age 103.  That’s 43 more years than my Dad had.  How lucky Spielberg was to have had his father for 73 years.

His father lived long enough to see his children become senior citizens and all that goes with that age such as personal successes and to experience great-grandchildren.

My dad never lived long enough to see how us three children turned out.  He never knew any of our spouses or children; he didn’t even live long enough to see me leave junior high school.

At 11, the only grandparent I ever knew, my father’s mother, died.  That was the first time I attended a funeral.  And the first time I ever saw a dead body in a casket.

A major part of my childhood evaporated, the fantasy in one’s head that people live forever.

Ever since then, I haven’t been able to escape that dreadful thought of how short life is, so when my father died a few years later, it cemented that dreadfulness into my psyche.

If there was anything even remotely positive about going through this, it was the philosophy to not take life for granted.  Embrace each day as a gift.  One never knows when your eyes won’t open again.

As the years go by, the memories of my father fade just a little bit.  While we have several photos and home movies of Dad, there was no way to hear his voice again.  I recalled a recording he made on the large reel-to-reel tape recorder. 

Sometimes when he would not be home in the morning when us three kids woke up, he’d leave behind a handwritten note.  This one time instead of writing his message, he recorded it. 

Months ago, we got the broken machine fixed, and after scouring dozens of tapes, there was Dad speaking to us again.  It was the first time hearing his voice in decades.  The message only lasts a little over half a minute, but it is the most precious thing he left for us.

Now my children can finally put a voice to the old images I’ve shown them of their Grandpa Harvey.

Leave a comment Posted on Ansel Elgort, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, Robert Wise, Russ Tamblyn, Stephen Sondheim, Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Did We Really Need a Remake of “West Side Story”?

Over 60 years ago, the film “West Side Story” was released to much acclaim, earning 10 Oscars including for Best Picture.

Now, famed director Steven Spielberg has made a remake of the classic Jerome Robbins/Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical, directed by Robert Wise, and one of the finest movies ever done based on a popular Broadway musical.

If any other filmmaker did this, I would have shunned the film.  But I can’t not see a Spielberg movie so I went ahead and saw it.

Overall, I liked it and thought Spielberg did a wonderful job.  He has the rare gift of knowing how to photograph a musical, a job often botched by modern film directors, by framing the full length of the dancers so the audience can take in all the movements.  And I loved the way the opening and closing credits were designed using cityscapes.

Still, as I exited the theater, I was left with the same question I had when I first read he was doing this:  why do it?

Several changes have been made for the 2021 version:  all actors are cast based on their ethnicity, the scenes with solely Puerto Rican actors are spoken in Spanish, the role of Doc has been replaced with his wife Valentina, and the backstories of Tony and Bernardo have been changed. 

Some of these changes are fine while others aren’t.  For example, the idea of casting 89-year-old Rita Moreno (who won Best Supporting Actress in 1961 as Anita) as the new character Valentina was inspired.  First, it makes a beautiful connection to the original film.  Second, giving her “Somewhere” to sing instead of Maria and Tony deepens the call for tolerance, not only for the main characters but for all couples who have mixed heritage including her late husband, a beautiful coda to Moreno’s film career.  It is the emotional epicenter of the film.

Less successful was the new information that Tony was in a jail for a year for almost killing a man.  And now Bernardo is a boxer.  Both of these backstories muddle the plot.

While the dancing in the new film is quite good, it doesn’t match the Jerome Robbins’ choreography of the original.  I was most disappointed with how much critics have raved about the 2021’s dancing.  It made me wonder when was the last time these critics saw the Jerome Robbins’ choreography or the athleticism of many of the dancers especially Russ Tamblyn?  Critics should know their history.

While I thought the dancing in the new version was good overall, the “America” number being a highlight, I was more impressed with Spielberg’s use of intimate tracking shots which made the dances more exhilarating than they were.

The weakest scene in the new version is the most critical scene in the musical:  the student dance where Tony and Maria first meet.  In Wise’s version it is quite magical and dreamlike, with vibrant colors.  In Spielberg’s version it is unremarkable behind the bleachers with too much talking.

Neither version casted Tony with an actor that is memorable which I found odd since that was usually the one blemish often mentioned (besides the fact that Natalie Wood’s singing was dubbed) was Richard Beymer’s blandness.  For me, Ansel Elgort is too slight of an improvement to make much of an impact.

And while in today’s times a major deal is made about casting Maria with a Puerto Rican actress, to me nothing compares to the charm of Wood.

If there was no earlier version of this musical until now, I would be more enthusiastic about this version.  I wish Spielberg would try his hand at another musical, but one that wasn’t already made into a movie.