Countdown to JAWSfest

I'm counting the days until JAWSfest in Martha's Vineyard. (I'll be there to co-host a Shark Movie Geek Out at Flatbread Pizza on Friday Night's Shark After Dark.)

To get ready I've been re-watching the JAWS movies and reading Patrick Jankiewicz's excellent book JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE: A JAWS COMPANION.

Here are some "fun facts" that demand to be shared:

Universal had wanted Charlton Heston to play Quint.

In Peter Benchley's novel, Hooper is having an affair with Ellen Brody and he is eaten by the shark.

Mrs. Kitner's poster notes that her son Alex was killed by the shark on June 29th -- the same day Quint says the Indianapolis sank.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat" was ad-libbed by Roy Scheider.

Director Jeannot Schwarc was hired to direct JAWS 2 based on the strength of the earthquake scenes he directed in William Castle's BUG

An early draft of JAWS 3-D revealed that the shark was the same burnt-faced shark from JAWS 2. 

Actor Mark Gilpin (Sean Brody in JAWS 2) remembers his co-star Donna Wilkes: "Donna had a lot of pressure, because she's the one who had to freak out so much in the film. Donna kept to herself on JAWS 2, because she had to constantly psych herself up."

The real ELECTRIC BANANA

Driving back from visiting my parents (who retired to Maryland), I passed a beach shop called The Electric Banana.

I wondered aloud if it were a reference to Spinal Tap** (Fans will remember "The Electric Banana" is the club where director Marti Di Bergi first saw the band.)  Neither my wife, my 6-year old son or my 3-year old son could say. 

Just today I was telling a nerdy friend about this place, and again I wondered if the name was a nod to Tap. 

So I called the store and asked. The clerk said "It's just a funny name, that an electric banana is funny, they wanted a funny name and electric banana is funny." 

Of course he's right, it IS funny.  But was there more to the story? 

I pressed him and discovered that he is not the owner. 

So I asked to speak with the owner.  I added "I'm a journalist" (which is kind of true, I suppose.) 

He put me on hold and said to call back in ten minutes. 

* * *   10 minutes later   * * *