Behind The Screams: The Jaws Pier Incident
We all know that Jaws is famous for not showing the shark, in fact the shark is only seen on screen for a total of four minutes in the original Steven Spielberg classic.
That was partly down to the shark not performing as it should, so instead we get a constant rising tension and sweaty city hands from point of view shots, that John Williams score and those iconic yellow barrels representing the shark.
But before the yellow barrels we had the pier incident scene, which beautifully mixes the Jaws score and makes a wooden inanimate object the scariest pier to ever grace our screens.
The pier incident scen features two men trying to catch the shark with a holiday roast and claim the $3,000 money put up by Mrs Kintner. It may start and end on notes of comedy and played for laughs, but by the end its more of a nervous laughter and our legs have been doing as much swimming and scrambling as Charlie's.
It's a beautifully shot scene that is perhaps one of the underated masterstrokes of the film.
It is especially clever that part way through the set up we cut back to Chief Brody flicking through shark books and images of sharks and shark attack victims. It's a sly, clever touch as we don't physically see the shark until the estuary attack, but this fill out mind with a plethora of shark imagery, so when the unseen shark makes an appearance and is dragging the section of the pier, it's not a giant leap of the imagination to mentally see the shark and the impact it will have on Charlie if it catches up with him.
In fact when we cut back to the pier and two men at night, there is a clear tonal shift. The fun and comedy dissapates. The two men are whistling, then suddenly the chain is being pulled out, the tyre is yanked underwater in a shot that reminds us of Chrissie's demise.
And the tension hits palpable high gear when the chain goes taught and rips a section of the pier off sending Charlie and the other man into the water. Cue Jaws theme up to 11 and the creaking, groaning pier as it creeks and turns - a noise that somehow has become one of the most disturbing and distressing in cinema - and heads toward Charlie.
At this point we may only see the pier atop the surface, but thanks to that Brody book scene - and having already seen the deaths of Chrissie and Alex, we know exactly what fate awaits Charlie if he doesn't swim fast enough. And then, to top it all, there is his attempt to clamber up out of the water. You can see it now, full cinema screen with each row frantically moving their legs to help Charlie get back up on that dock.
It's certainly one of the tensest moments in Jaws, beautifully structured for ultimate suspense - Hitchcock would be proud - and a wonderful image of the pier floating up to the beach, it once again a harmless wooden pier as the Jaws theme subsides and we get that killer line from an exhausted Charlie, "Can we go home now?"
At that moment, that is exactly how the audience feel as well.
Also attending the filming of that scene, and helping with the breakaway dock, was John Landis - later director on An American Werewolf in London - he'd been asked to come down and speak to Spielberg about working on the script that would eventually become Close Encounters. Instead, he got a close encounter of a different kind, helping out on the classic suspense scene.
It was shot in early June, 1974, on a small private beach in Harthaven, which is a small part of Oak Bluffs on Beach Road.
The pier incident scene was shot day for night (shot in the day time but then appearing as if it was filmed at night in the finished film). According to Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log that scene went through several changes, one minute Charlie surviving his ordeal with the shark, the next being devoured.
The actors for that scene were locals and were given the choice of using stunt doubles when the rigged pier broke away, but they decided to do it themselves! Dunk, in they went time and again, clothes over the wet suits.
Months later, back on dry land in Hollywood, their voices were redubbed by other actors with water in their mouths, just as Susan Backlinie had to do with her attack sequence.
The pier incident may often be forgotten amongst the likes of the attack on Chrissie, Alex Kintner, the estuary victim and Quint, but for Jaws fans it still remains a standout moment in the film. The hidden gem of Jaws if you will.
@AdamPDallas on Twitter said: "When I saw Jaws at the cinema last (in 2019) my friend was so stressed out here she nearly pulled the armrest off her seat. Amazing sequence and the music is just chilling."
That was echoed by @imstillheresong who added: "Very tense scene especially the turning round of the pier and the squeaking of his shoes as he tries to climb out."
Others noted the masterful use of the Jaws theme, @LeedsFanszines said: "One of my favourite (possible favourite) musical cues is when the jetty's turned and begins accelerating.."
With @honestman2079 calling it: "The single finest use of the Jaws theme in any of the movies."
Whilst @OverallRichard and @robbyV13 spoke for us all when they said
"The creak as it turns" and "Anxiety is real during this."