Way to Reel in the Tourists?

By Jeffrey Ressner

Just when you thought it was safe to spend the summer watching reruns, Martha's Vineyard is launching its first annual Jaws Fest to lure movie buffs to the Massachusetts resort island where the shark tale was filmed. The three-day event in early June will mark the 30th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's first blockbuster with an outdoor screening and appearances by Jaws novelist Peter Benchley and co-screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, along with displays of movie props and behind-the-scenes photographs. (Universal Studios' commemorative DVD set won't be available until later that month.) The reunion won't be complete, as actors Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss have not yet agreed to come and the director has said he'll be tied up in Los Angeles completing his latest thriller, War of the Worlds. Also absent from the festivities will be the three mechanical sharks used in the picture, all of which were nicknamed Bruce--after Spielberg's attorney--and have long since fallen apart. Unlike the film's fictionalized Amity Island, Martha's Vineyard has never been plagued by unprovoked shark attacks, although a great white was spotted off the coast of a nearby island last year. "We're celebrating the arrival of Hollywood, not any predators," said a rep from the local Chamber of Commerce who spoke without irony. --By Jeffrey Ressner