Jaws Page #9

VAUGHN:

Only 24 hours!

BRODY:

I didn't agree to that!

MRS. TAFT

That official business could take

all summer!

MR. KEISEL

Maybe it's better to close.

Two opinions have been expressed, and the crowd takes sides

vociferously, ad libbing assent or dissent depending on the

point of view held forth.

THOSE IN FAVOR:

MR. WISEMAN

We should make sure

there is no danger.

MR. HASSETT

I didn't raise my kids to be some

fish's lunch!

THOSE OPPOSED:

MRS. TAFT

The motel is all I own --

you pull the plug on this

town and I go down the

drain with it.

MR. POSNER

Nobody's seen a shark.

MR. POLK

We'll lose business, we

lose taxes, we lose our

shirts!

ANGLE ON QUINT, THE MAN IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM

He has just run his large, coarse fingernails over the

blackboard. He is a large, rough man, a professional fisherman

marked by daily physical toil, About 45 or 50, it's hard to

tell where the scars leave off and the wrinkles begin. There

is a bit of the showman in him, as well as a bit of killer-

whale.

QUINT:

(after taking a deep

breath)

You all know me. You know what I do

for a living. I'll go out and get

this bird for you. He's a bad one

and it's not like goin' down the

pond chasing blue-gills and tommy-

cods. This is a fish that can swallow

a man whole. A little shakin', a

little tenderizing and down ya' go.

(a look to Vaughn)

You gotta get this fellow and get

him quick. If you do, it'll bring a

lot of tourist business just to see

him and you've got your business

back on a paying basis.

(beat)

A shark of that size is no pleasure

and I value my neck at a hell of a

lot more'n 3,000 bucks.

(a deadly look)

I'll find him for three. But I'll

kill him for ten.

Crowd reaction.

QUINT:

(he rises up)

The bastard is costing you more'n

that every day. Do you wanna stay

alive and annee up the ten or play

it cheap and be on welfare next

winter.

(a final moment)

I'm gonna kill this thing... just a

matter of whether I do it now -- or

at the end of summer.

VAUGHN:

Thank you very much, Mr. Quint, the

Selectmen will take your offer under

advisement

INT. BRODY'S STUDY AT HOME - SUNSET

A riffly blur, color alternating with black and white. The

dizziness stops on a book page showing a black and white

rendering of eight species of shark. The banner at the top

of the page reads: THE KNOWN AND REPUTED MANEATERS.

The riffling begins again, stops on a grizzly photograph of

scar tissue on six former shark victims. Riffling -- stop.

Photograph of five Ichthyologists posing on wooden stools,

framed by the enormous jaws of a prehistoric shark from the

family Carcharodon charcharias.

BRODY:

his reading glasses reflecting a stack of twelve library

books, all on the subject of sharks and shark attacks. The

door opens and Ellen enters, quietly, in respect for Brody's

mood.

ELLEN:

Can you stand something to eat?

BRODY:

Love a cup of tea. With lemon.

Ellen walks past Brody to the window and looks out the window

which overlooks the south bay. It is the hour of dusk.

ELLEN:

Mikey loves his birthday present.

BRODY:

Where is he?

ELLEN:

(with a slight laugh)

He's sitting in it.

Brody gets up, concerned, and joins her at the window.

ELLEN:

Honey. He has it tied up to the jetty

with a double-knot.

BRODY'S POINT OF VIEW

Michael is sitting in the boat, but two of his young school

chums are in the water, swimming around it. Brody opens the

window and calls down:

BRODY:

Son! -- Out of the water now!

MICHAEL:

My boat's neat, dad!

BRODY:

(turning to Ellen)

I want him out of the ocean.

ELLEN:

It's three feet deep, Martin

BRODY:

(angry now)

Michael! Come inside!

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