Jaws (1975) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

June 11, 1975

This teaser ad hyping the upcoming release of Jaws is one of what, at time of typing these very words, is close to ten or so dozen examples of why I started looking at every page of an archived paper. Because this teaser was not nestled with all the other movie ads in the Entertainment Section. No, this ad was 'hidden' in either the Business or Sports section. Or between to two. Just so eyes that might not bother checking the Entertainment Section might see and take note of it.

I have no idea when the very first teaser ad for Jaws appeared in either the San Francisco Examiner or the Oakland Tribune. But, since I am going through every available edition archived ad Newspapers.com, I should be able to find and archive it here. It is my favorite movie of all time, after all.

The Island by Peter Benchley - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - July 8, 1979]

Nothing the slightest bit subliminal about the sex and violence implied in this advertisement for Peter Benchley's novel The Island, eh? As George Carlin quipped in an unrelated bit about sex in advertising, "You don't have to be Fellini to figure that out." 

I tried reading The Island several times before finally making it all the way through to the end, which did not happen until after I had seen the movie adaptation. 

The generous read on why, at the ages of twelve and thirteen, I kept bouncing off the book might have been the lack of a fantastical threat. A pack of inbred, feral pirates just did not seem all that scary to me. Maybe if Jack Ketchum had given the book a look and polish it might have been more interesting.

Which brings me to the less generous reason for why I kept bouncing off The Island. It read as pedestrian as a sidewalk, as dull as dishwater. It remains the Peter Benchley novel that I least enjoyed reading.

The Island (1980) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - June 13, 1980]

The film versions of both The Island and The Shining opened on Friday, June 13th in 1980. The very day that the events in the first Friday the 13th movie were supposed to be taking place. How's that for an alignment?

I struggled and waffled over which movie to see on the big screen to celebrate my 13th birthday, The Island or The Shining? Hey, there's that alignment again. Go figure.

Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown, and, most importantly, Peter Benchley were integral parts of the production team responsible for Jaws, which was (and remains) my favorite movie of all time. But The Island was nothing at all like Jaws. There was also the fact that, at that time, I had been unable to finish reading the source novel, despite having made one or two attempts to do so.

I had no problem finishing The Shining, though. That book scared the daylights out of me and I hoped the movie would do the same.

The Shining won, as it never really was all that much of a contest to begin with.

When I did get around to finally seeing The Island, either on home video or HBO, I was even happier with the decision I had made.

Jaws (1975) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - April 25, 1975]

Here's an ad alerting San Francisco filmgoers of their chance to see a Major Studio Preview of the soon to be released 'Super Thriller' Jaws at 8:30 on Saturday night. While The Great Waldo Pepper, which was in general release at the time, was shown before and after Jaws, I don't known if the screening was considered part of a double-bill. 

Chances are good that it was, as the idea that a schlocky thriller like Jaws would go on to draw huge crowds, and become a pop culture phenomenon, seemed ludicrous. They also did not clear out theaters after each showing like they do now. If you bought a ticket, and there was room, you could stay for as many showings as you liked.

Well, that is how I remember it being back then, at least.

Jaws by Peter Benchley - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - February 10, 1974]

Before the movie there was the novel. Producer David Brown once said that if he and Richard Zanuck had stopped to think through the budgetary logistics of actually making a movie adaptation of Jaws, they might never have done so.

I tried and tried to read the novel, having seen and loved the movie, but just kept bouncing off it. It would not be until late 1980, or maybe even early 1981, that I would manage to get through the entire book, from start to finish. 

The movie was better. Much, much better.