The Oscars Jaws Should Have Won (If The Academy Had Got It Right)

Hello Islanders!

In reading Dean’s piece about how Steven Spielberg was snubbed by the Motion Picture Academy for his direction of JAWS - the first of what would be two obvious slights – I’m looking at you, THE COLOR PURPLE – I thought back to something I used to ponder on the various JAWS on-line boards. Steven Spielberg envisioned what he called a “sweep” of the Academy Award nominations, anticipating that JAWS would receive a total of (11) nominations. It only received (4) – winning (3) – which Spielberg alluded to the backlash against commercial success. But what if he had been right.

At the time of the 48th Annual Academy Awards, there were (13) categories that JAWS could have qualified for, though I think Best Actress would have been a stretch for Lorraine Gary as she was only in the first half of the film. Below is what I think Spielberg was envisioning when he predicted a “sweep.” The number at the end of each category denotes the number of predicted nominations in that category.

BEST PICTURE – yep, it was nominated. Lost to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (1)

BEST DIRECTOR – sadly, it wasn’t until this past year that Spielberg was finally nominated for directing a film with a Shark in it. Milo Forman took home the award for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (1)

BEST ACTOR – BLASPHEMY!! None of the Big 3 were recognized for their brilliant work, a slight even commented on by Johnny Carson. The obvious choice here would be Robert Shaw, whose portrayal of Quint has often been cited as one of the greatest screen performances on the 1970s. I always thought it ironic that one of the Best Actor nominees that year was Maximillian Schell, who was recognized for his work in the film “The Man in the Glass Booth.” The film was based on a play written by…ROBERT SHAW! Roy Scheider was also very deserving of a nod. The eventual winner was Jack Nicholson, who took home the first of his three Oscars for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (1)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – nope. This is where I would have expected Richard Dreyfuss to be recognized. Yes, both actors had their names above the title, but in a year where Jack Nicholson would win pretty much every conceivable award for “Cuckoo’s Nest,” the studio may have pushed for them in this category. Think Timothy Hutton in “Ordinary People” or Samuel L. Jackson in “Pulp Fiction.” Both had the majority of the screen time but the studio felt they had a better chance in this category. Hutton, who would have had to take on Robert DeNiro (RAGING BULL) in the Best Actor category, won the Supporting Actor award. The eventual winner this year was George Burns for “The Sunshine Boys.” A great performance and a very nostalgic nominee, but I think Dreyfuss would have walked hom with the award had he been nominated. (1)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Lorraine Gary took a lot of grief because she was married to Sid Sheinberg, the President of Universal. Some stockholders were so upset that they continually questioned her salary for JAWS 2. Yet Gary had already proved herself to be a fine actress, both before and after JAWS. And remember, Richard Zanuck has wanted his wife, Linda Harrison, to play the part of Ellen Brody. When told that Spielberg wanted Lorraine, Zanuck went to Sheinberg’s office, lamenting on how he would have to explain to Harrison that she didn’t get the part. Sheinberg picked up the phone and called William Frye, who was currently producing AIRPORT ’75. “Bill,” Sheinberg said into the phone, “you’ve got another passenger on your airplane.” Linda Harrison IS in AIRPORT ’75. I certainly think Lorraine Gary was nomination worthy in JAWS. The eventual winner: Lee Grant in “Shampoo.” (1)

BEST ART DIRECTION - Quint’s Shack, the ORCA. The look and feel of the film. This was all due to the brilliant Joe Alves, who was sadly ignored by the academy. The winner: BARRY LYNDON. (1)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Ever shot a movie on the ocean? Nobody had until JAWS and, thanks to the camera work of Bill Butler, the audience was given a shark’s eye view of all of the action. The winner: BARRY LYNDON. (1)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN – it would be a stretch but the film was eligible in this category. BARRY LYNDON won this award as well.

BEST FILM EDITING – “Mother Cutter,” the great Verna Fields, took home the Oscar for JAWS. (1)

BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL SCORE – John Williams took home his second of five total Academy Awards for creating one of the most iconic and recognizable musical scores of all time for JAWS. (1)

BEST SOUND – as Roy Schedier announced, the winners were Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman, Earl Madery, and John Carter for JAWS (1)

BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTED FROM OTHER MATERIAL – Even Spielberg lamented that Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley were not recognized for their work. The winners were Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (1)

That’s my list. I’m pretty sure that’s the “sweep” Spielberg predicted. I’m not saying that JAWS would have won in every category – both CUCKOO’S NEST and BARRY LYNDON were formable opponents – but it would have been nice to see those worthy nominees get the recognition they deserved.

I should also note that THE HINDENBERG received Academy Awards for Special Achievement in both Sound Effects and Visual Effects, apparently because it was harder to set a model blimp on fire then to CREATE FROM SCRATCH AND OPERATE (3) 25-foot mechanical sharks.

Of course, the next year, the Visual Effects award would go to the large animatronic hand and footage of Rick Baker in an ape costume for KING KONG so who the hell knows how that award was decided on?

Words by Michael A Smith. Michael is co-author of Jaws 2: The Making Of The Hollywood Sequel. You can order the book by contacting Michael at OsFanMike@aol.com.

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