Jaws Page #10

ELLEN:

It's his birthday present, and you

closed the beach, Honey. I told him

not to go in the water after what

happened yesterday. I don't believe

he'll ever do it again.

BRODY:

I told him not to go out until he

memorized the handbook and the safety

safety regulations, until he was

sure of himself...

Ellen's eyes drift down to the open book, which is displaying

a reproduction of the famous painting "The Gulf Stream,"

showing a black fisherman in a small dinghy similar to

Michael's being assaulted by the jaws of three man-eating

sharks, circling his boat.

ELLEN:

You heard your father! Out right

now!

SUNSET ON THE BEACH

Hendricks and another deputy are assisting Brody. Silhouettes

of townspeople look on like mourners at a funeral.

In the background some workmen are taking down the shutters

from a quaint summer cottage. They pause to watch the

declining moments of the day.

Three Selectmen also stand watching. One of them seems to be

whispering bounty news to three youngish men on a nearby

dune.

Sounds:
Surf and hammering.

CUT TO:

EXT. OCEAN AND PIER - NIGHT

Selectman Denherder and his buddy, Charlie, a professional

angler, row towards a tumble-down jetty that leads fifty

feet out into the black water.

DENHERDER:

You wanna call it a night after here?

CHARLIE:

It's only two-thirty. What, are you

tired?

DENHERDER:

Yeah, Charlie, I got my second wind

three nibbles back.

Denherder hefts a bloodstained laundry bag from the

wheelbarrow, revealing about a hundred feet of coiled dog

chain and a large patched inner tube. Charlie takes out a

monster hook and together they push the wheelbarrow onto the

rickety pier that is only about five feet across.

DENHERDER:

(reaching into the

bag)

Leg of lamb this time?

CHARLIE:

Screw lamb -- let's shoot the sirloin!

DENHERDER:

(a hyena laugh)

We're blowin' half the bounty on

bait --

The splintered pier sways to and fro as the men reach the

end and start to work. Charlie baits the hook with a massive

chunk of sirloin while Denherder secures the loose end of

chain to a skinny piling. Charlie then fastens the inner

tube to the chain five feet from the end of the hook.

DENHERDER:

One more after this, then I'm going

home.

CHARLIE:

Set?

Denherder tugs the chain against the piling to prove that it

is. Charlie heaves the bait. Splash! The inner tube follows

and both men eagerly watch as it floats seaward, the chain

playing out from the wheelbarrow.

CHARLIE:

Tide's taking it right out.

Charlie lights his pipe and sits back against a piling. He

turns on his transistor radio and loops one end around a

fractured board. Denherder paces, bored to death.

DENHERDER:

You do this all the time, right,

Charlie?

CHARLIE:

Twenty years.

DENHERDER:

I can't believe that people pay money

to go fishing. This is really dumb.

This isn't even relaxing... it's

just boring.

CLOSE - CHAIN IN WHEELBARROW

Suddenly zipping out, faster and faster, as both men

straighten.

Denherder is goggle-eyed.

DENHERDER:

Hey! What's this?

The chain is coming out so fast that it begins to drag the

wheelbarrow to the end of the jetty. A section of chain

tangles around the handle and flips the entire machine into

the air. Both men watch dumbfounded as the inner tube, racing

out to sea in a wake of white water, suddenly dips under.

CHARLIE:

Look at him take it!

DENHERDER:

Do I set the goddam hook?

CHARLIE:

Let him do it! Go-go-go-go-go!

It is then that the chain whips taut against the narrow

pilings.

CLOSE - PILING

A lineup of five decrepit 2 x 4 inch pilings SNAP with a

resounding CRACK.

ANGLE - JETTY

The end of the jetty is yanked loose. Denherder is flipped

like a chip over the side and into the cold night water,

where he manages to snag hold of a splintered timber.

DENHERDER'S POINT OF VIEW

The severed section of jetty, a joined platform of footboards,

is being dragged seaward with Charlie sitting dazed on top

of it, his lit pipe still going.

DENHERDER:

CHARLIE! JUMP!

Charlie rolls into the water, sputters, turns to watch the

flotilla of wood draw away.

CLOSE - CHARLIE

looking seaward.

CHARLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

The end of the jetty makes a 180-degree turn and heads back

in his direction.

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