Spoofing Spielberg Lampoons His Own Famous Opening To Jaws
Riding the high of Jaws and Close Encounters OF The Third Kind, Steven Spielberg decided his next film would be very different. 1941, (released in 1979) is the story of hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.
A dark comedy, co-writer Bob Gale explained in the DVD documentary many of the events in the movie are based on real incidents. The Army really put an anti-aircraft gun in the yard of a homeowner on the Maine coast. A Japanese submarine shelled a refinery in Ellwood on the California coast on February 23, 1943. An air raid false alarm over Los Angeles resulted in Civil Defense and Army weapons firing into the air on the night of February 24 and 25, 1942, thinking they were being attacked by the Japanese. The infamous Zoot Suit Riots, between Hispanic youths and servicemen, took place in June 1943.
But the humorous look at such absurd, dark real-life events lead to Spielberg’s first big time flop at the box office since his rise to mega success.
“(an) assault on our eyes and ears, a nonstop series of climaxes, screams, explosions, double-takes [and] sight gags … that’s finally just not very funny.”
Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody in Jaws) worked with Stevens Spielberg in a supporting role in 1941.
One of the highlights of 1941, is the famous beginning which sees Spielberg lampooning one his most celebrated sequences. We see a naked young woman going for a night swim. As she ventures further out, a familiar theme can be heard - John Williams’ Jaws theme. As the music builds, we are expecting an attack. And we get one, just not as expected. Instead of shark, the woman’s swim is disrupted by a rising submarine breaching the surface in a flurry of water.
Susan Backlinie reprised her role as the first victim in Jaws by playing the young woman seen in this sequence. Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody in Jaws) also stars in a supporting role as Jane Douglas.
Watch the full opening to 1941 below.
FURTHER READING: Behind The Screams: Chrissie’s Attack