Jaws (1975) - 10 questions

Question: In the scene where Quint and Hooper were drunk and comparing scars, at the end of the scene Chief Brody lifts his shirt to reveal a scar. The significance of the scar was not revealed in the movie. What was the scar from?

Answer: It's an appendix scar, from when he had it removed. It's of no great significance other than a jokey moment where Brody realises that he doesn't have any stories to tell the others about any scars he has, other than one he received through a fairly common operation.

Question: Instead of going under water and trying to poison Jaws in the shark cage, couldn't he have been harpooned with the poison from the boat just as easy?

Answer: As mentioned in the movie, the posion was in the needle and the shark's hide was too tough for the needle to penetrate. Hooper had to go in the water so that he could get the needle into the shark's mouth, where the flesh was less tough.

Question: When the swimmers are running of the water, why does Brody shout: "No whistles?"

Answer: Whistling is loud and it would send vibrations through the water and attract the shark, making it more likely to attack.

Question: Are we ever told what state Amity is located in?

Answer: According to amity island: shark central, it is in Massachusetts.

Question: In the scene where the shark enters the pond, Brody's son and some friends are trying to tie a knot in a rope, a man in a small boat paddles up to them and says something right before he asks if they are ok. It sounds like he is saying "fellas make it thin, fold it in sheets". I've watched Jaws a 100 times and I still can't quite make out what he says. Any idea?

Answer: He says, "Hey fellas! Fellas! The sheet! Make it fast! 'Sheet' is the nautical term for the ropes used to control a sail. Each sheet has its own name as well, for instance the halyard is the sheet that raises the sail. Basically, he was telling them to hurry up with their knot.

Question: In the scene where Quint is sitting with the fishing pole, Brody is trying to learn a knot. What kind of knot?

Answer: It's a sheepshank, the same knot Richard Dreyfuss had to tie earlier in the movie to prove he knew what he was doing.

Question: I have been wondering this for ages. In the scene where everyone is on the beach, Ellen Brody sees her husband Chief Brody and waves at him. He waves back. Then she mouths something completely incomprehensible and the chief nods and walks away. What did she say?

Answer: She says, "I've got Sean." Sean is their youngest son and she's telling him that so he won't wonder where he's gotten off to.

Question: What exactly was the logic behind Hooper's (incorrect) assumption that Quint had snagged something other than the shark with his fishing line?

Answer: Because Hooper has a good idea of how big Bruce is and the pull on the line simply doesn't look strong enough.

Question: In one of the Orca scenes, when Quint shot a line and barrel into Jaws from the rear of the boat, the barrel then had to travel over the boat and almost hit Brody in the head. If you look closely, you can see his glasses getting ripped off by the barrel. Was this staged or an actual near-miss, just inches from his head?

Answer: I've just studied this at uni, and the section you're talking about was indeed an accident.

Question: When Bruce is killing Quint (and in every shot of Bruce thereafter) there's a whole lot of white stuff around the shark's teeth that doesn't seem to be just his gums. What is that white stuff? It looks like he's chewed on lots of paper or something...

Answer: It's supposed to be flesh from whatever he ate before. Like when you eat chicken and a piece gets stuck in your teeth.