The teeth of the sea is 50 years old: all the secrets of the cult film by Steven Spielberg

Lee Marvin should have played Quint

The first choice of Spielberg to embody the shark hunter, Lee would have answered the director that he preferred to go fishing rather than shooting the film.

Charlton Heston had to play Brody

The cop played by Roy Scheider had to be embodied by the ex-moose and ex-Ben Hur. But Spielberg thought that the public would think that the shark would have no chance against him. The role was proposed to Robert Duvall, but he did not want to play what Quint.

The fin or the thigh

If the film was released in June in the USA, the day before the long summer holidays, France had to wait until January 1976 to see the teeth of the sea. This did not prevent the film from becoming the biggest hit of the year with 6.2 million admissions, more than the wing or the thigh (5.8 million) with Louis de Funès, good second.

Bud Spencer stronger than the shark

In Communist Hungary, the teeth of the sea only released in theaters in 1985 and was only the second biggest success of the year there. The title returns to the Italian turnip captain Malabar says the bomb with Bud Spencer, following I am called Malabar.

The fifth victim

The name of Quint comes from the Latin “quintus” which means “fifth”. And guess what, Quint is the fifth and last human victim of the shark.

Roger Counter-attack

The film poster was painted by Roger Kastel, who four years later will sign the magnificent poster of the Empire Counter-attack. For the teeth of the sea, Roger has in fact only resuming his blanket from the Jaws pocket book, published in 1974.

Urban legend

A legend has it that the red color never appears in the film, except when you see blood, it seems to strengthen its impact. Which is completely false.

Bruce the shark

The legend says that the mechanical shark was nicknamed Bruce, named after the Spielberg lawyer (Bruce Raimer). But Roy Scheider said that he had never used this name on the set.

The tension is real

In private, Robert Shaw was adorable with the youngest Richard Dreyfuss. But in public and during the shooting of the scenes, Shaw was treating Dreyfuss as shit, probably to add tension to the screen between Quint and Hooper, between the chisel hunter and the intellect.

$ 2 billion in revenue

The teeth of the sea would be the first film in history to have brought back more than $ 100 million when it was released. In all, the film brought in $ 470.6 million on the planet in 1975. Which would be equivalent to 2 billion dollars today with inflation …

American class

When the star war beat the teeth of the sea at the box office, Steven Spielberg sent a letter of congratulations to his friend George Lucas with a nice drawing. In 1997, Lucas will congratulate James Cameron for Titanic in the same way. And very recently, Marvel will also salute the record start of Jurassic World which beat that of Avengers

A shark in the city

Michael Winner, fresh out of a vigilante’s cardboard in the city with Charles Bronson, should have made the teeth of the sea.

The shark almost eat George Lucas

Before filming, Spielberg showed the big shark robot to his friends John Milius, Martin Scorsese and George Lucas. To laugh, the latter put his head in the mouth of the monster and his friends hastened to activate Bruce to imprison Lucas. Afterwards, it is impossible to let go of Bruce. They had to break the machine to release George, and fled without asking for their rest.

Moby Dick’s disappearance

Spielberg wanted to showcate Quint in a movie theater watching Moby Dick with Gregory Peck. But the latter held rights on the film and refused that Steven uses it in the teeth of the sea. The reason: Peck would hate and Moby Dick and his perf in the film and refuses to meet again. The scene was therefore never shot.

Moby Dick 2: Revenge

In 1976, John Huston Moby Dick (with Gregory Peck, cf. Supra) came out in the cinema with a new poster decorated with the tagline “before the shark, there was the whale”. #Opportunism

The biggest success of all time

From 1975 to 1977, the teeth of the sea was the biggest hit of all time in the USA. Until the release of the Star War in 1977 …

Jaws: the return

After the death of the monster, Spielberg wanted to finish the film on dozens of sharks that rush to Brody. The idea was not followed. Phew. But that did not prevent the film from knowing three suites and countless copies.

Dead

The film has only 7 victims in all: 5 humans, a dog and the shark.

Panic on TV

700,000 dollars at the time were invested in advertising the film on TV. A record, and a first, which established the practice in Hollywood studios to do a big pub campaign on TV for their films.

Budget explosion

Scheduled to be shot in 55 days for a budget of $ 4 million, the film was shot in 159 days for the price of 9 million. For Universal, he promised himself as a disaster, therefore.

The quality of the film is an accident

As Bruce the shark worked very badly, Spielberg had to turn many plans in subjective camera. In fact adding to tension and suggestion and making the film even more creepy.

Only one socket, sober

Shaw, experienced for his penchant for alcohol, turned the scene of the completely drunk monologue but the scene proved unusable. Shaw apologized to Spielberg and restored the sober scene: in a catch, the turn was played.

Spielberg makes his cameo

When Brody’s wife calls her husband on the radio, we hear Steven Spielberg’s voice in the microphone.

Robert Shaw wrote his speech

The famous “Indianapolis monologue” where Quint recounts his war experience was created by the playwright Howard Sackler (the insurgent), then copiously rewritten by John Milius (Conan Le Barbare). But it was actor Robert Shaw who had to give him his final form, a mixture of improvisation and rewritings.

The dwarf appearing

To film the attack of the cage by the shark, the photographers Ron and Valerie Taylor -Specialists of the submarine shots-used a small cage with a dwarf in it to make believe that the white shark was huge.

The improvised reply

“We are going to need a bigger boat”. The best known replica of the film would have been improvised as it should be by Roy Scheider.

A real scar

When Hooper and Quint compare their scars, Brody calms them by showing a wound in the flop -which was a real scar from Roy Scheider and not makeup.

Bruce’s fate

The last Bruce would have ended his days on the roof of a breakage from the San Fernando valley, California.

Michael Caine played in the saga

In “Les Dent de la Mer”, released in 1987, Michael Caine plays an airplane pilot. Appointed to seven raid Awards, the film is considered one of the worst ever made.

Spielberg dog

The Brody’s Cocker Spaniel is actually Elmer, a faithful companion of Spielby at the time in real life.

The music was not good

When John Williams played the theme of the film – two notes at Piano in Spielberg, the latter burst out laughing, thinking that the composer was walking it.

Orca

Quint’s boat is called Orca (at the base it was called “Warlock”, or sorcerer), English name of the Orca, the only known predator of the great white shark. And in 1977, Dino de Laurentiis produced were tooth of the sea: Orca with Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling.

Bruce the shark

The legend says that mechanical shark was nicknamed Bruce, named after the Bruce Ramer) lawyer. But Roy Scheider said that he had never used this name on the set.

Duplicate

John Williams led the orchestra during the 1976 Oscar ceremony. When he received the trophy for the best music for the teeth of the sea, he had to run to get his statuette to return to his desk as quickly as possible.

Tax problem

Robert Shaw had to spend his holidays in Canada because if he stayed for too long on US territory, he became taxable with regard to American law.

The death of Quint

In the original script (and in the novel) Quint is drowning, trained in the waves by the shark. But Spielberg preferred that he be devoured by Bruce, in order to echo the back of Quint during the war.

Music that breathes

According to John Williams, the main inspiration of the famous theme of the film comes from breathing and not from a beat of c?

The Suda Shark

For the sound of the shark’s first appearance, the sound designer used a bottle of shaken soda and thrown to the ground.

Duel at Lac Noir

When the shark is exploding, Spielberg used for the noise of the boat which sinks the sound of the final crash of the truck from its TV movie Duel (1971), plus a sound effect out of the famous the Strange Creature of Lac Noir (1954) by Jack Arnold.