Thanks to new chief of police, Jaws ‘cardboard shark fin’ scene has become even more famous
When Jonathan Searle was announced as the new chief of police for Oak Bluffs earlier this month, it was once again mentioned about his short cardboard fin scene in Jaws as a child, echoing across news channels and filling column inches across the world.
Photo credit Jeanna Shepard for Vineyard Gazette
Steven Spielberg’s 1975 shark epic, Jaws, is awash with iconic moments and dialogue. We’d argue the head, the tail, the whole damn thing is one long quotable and visual feast for the eyes.
For the casual fan, they’d probably mention the opening attack on Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie), Ben Gardner’s head scene with Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) or the “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” moment from Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) to Quint (Robert Shaw).
That is until this last month, when the cardboard fin scene with two little boys has been practically inescapable. That’s because one of those boys, Jonathan Searle, has now been announced as the chief of police for Oak Bluffs, a town that is part of Martha’s Vineyard where Jaws was filmed in 1974 and doubled as Amity Island.
Jonathan, then aged just 9, starred in the short scene alongside his brother. The scene is a classic, as we the audience are expecting the shark, as is Chief Brody. Enter shark fin and cue panic on the beaches…except it isn’t, it is the boys with the cardboard fin.
Here’s that original Steven Spielberg scene.
And everyone relax, including the audience. Except this time, the great white shark really is on the move into the pond, which is exactly where Brody has sent his son Michael and his boat, directly into the path of the shark and the still nightmare inducing estuary victim scene.
Although Jonathan and his brother’s scene is short, it is a great misdirection from them (and Steven Spielberg) that gives us the memorable beach panic scene and also segways into one of the scariest moments – and best realised shark shots – in all of the Jaws series. And for many, this is where we really get a good look at the shark for the first time.
That fake shark fin scene also ended up in The Daily Jaws fan remake – which we called the Jaws WeMake – back in 2020, which was Jaws remade by over 100 fans across the world under lockdown conditions during Covid.
Here is that Jonathan Searle scene in Jaws, Jaws WeMake-style from Jackey Deschamps and her family from Buffalo, New York.
Jackey roped in her husband, Jeremy, and children Joseph, then aged 16, Collin, then aged 14, and Cameron, then aged 10, as actors. Jackey's brother, Scott Balzer was on their scenes filming and editing duties.
And they all did an amazingly accurate job, recreating each moment from that scene down to every detail, which was then matched to the original audio. It still looks brilliant, with Jackey even being dubbed the “oh my, god lady” for a short while on social media.
At the time, Jackey said: "Our family, including my brother, have always been into movies but Jaws is probably at the top for all of us. I showed this movie to my kids probably at an age younger than most normal parents.
"We have always been a creative group. My boys are always busy filming things. So, it seemed like a fun project. The boys have seen the film so many times they can quote most of the movie on their own. Getting involved in the Jaws WeMake worked out perfect and gave us all a chance to be together.”
You can catch the full version of the Jaws WeMake, complete with an introduction by Ian Shaw, the co-writer and actor from The Shark Is Broken, who is also the son of Robert Shaw, here.
Words by Dean Newman
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