# Jaw II useless facts...



## Catchin Hell (Oct 9, 2007)

I've lived in Navarre 11 years now and I didn't know about this. I've always heard certain parts of Jaws were filmed in Destin. Do any of you have any good stories from back in the day?

In reference to Jaws II

The majority of filming was at Navarre Beach in Florida, because of the warm weather and the water's depth being appropriate for the shark platform. The company was at this location from August 1 until December 22, 1977.[1] The production "was a boost to the local economy because local boaters, extras and stand-ins or doubles were hired. Universal brought in actors, directors, producers and their wives, camera and crew people who needed housing, food and clothing for the movie. Services were needed for laundry, dry-cleaning and recreation." Navarre's Holiday Inn "Holidome" was used as the film's headquarters, with the ground floor converted into production offices, and some of the Gulf-front suites remodelled for David Brown and Roy Scheider. Universal rented 100 of the hotel's 200 rooms, spending $1 million.[25] Boats and parts for their maintenance were purchased from local businesses. One proprietor said that he sold "Universal approximately $400,000 worth of boats and equipment".[26]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_2


----------



## FLbeachbum (Jul 17, 2008)

I remember the big deal at the Holidome, and watching the shark being pulled on a trailer down the beach road.


----------



## Jaw Jacker (Jul 29, 2009)

I tryed to get a job as an extra, but I had to dark of a sun tan. You had to be lilly white like a yankie. We watched them drag Jaws around from the Pier


----------



## SHatten (Sep 30, 2007)

The movie headquarters was indeed at the former Holiday Inn in Navarre however a lot of the actual movie was filmed in Pensacola Bay and in the area of Pensacola Pass. The village and lighthouse that was in the film was located on the beach behind Fort Pickens....this is where a lot of the movie was filmed. They had a big maintenance building (old 7UP bottling company) on Navy Blvd where they kept the shark and did most of the repairs. Interesting times...watched a lot of the filming while out in the bay/gulf.


----------



## Hook (Oct 2, 2007)

The island final seen was taken in Choctawtchee Bay. Went buy it numerous times then.


----------



## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

They also took some of the metal props and made a fishing reef out of it. It was located between the Pensacola pass and the three barges. It lasted one hurricane season and was completely buried.


----------



## Bonsaifishrman (Mar 17, 2009)

I was 27/28 then. I had just started a woodworking business a few years before. I made a whole $35 making a special lathe turned part for one of the scenes. They were spending money around the area from what I heard back then.


----------



## Hewes your daddy? (Mar 9, 2009)

The Boston Whalers used for the film crew were purchased from Killinger marine. They later tried to save money by purchasing a Mako from Hess Marine, which they sank the second day in the water. The way they treated those boats would have been a great endorsement for the "incredible Unsinkable Whaler".


----------



## Catchin Hell (Oct 9, 2007)

I figured that would bring out some great stories... Too bad you guys didn't have cell phones with cameras back then. I was 12 in 77 and most likely vacationed in either PCB or Destin that year... Times were much less complicated back then. Thanks for sharing everyone. Btw, no one tell Garbo that I asked an open ended question as that used to be his job, I don't want to hurt his feelings...:innocent:


----------



## H2OMARK (Oct 2, 2007)

I was 15 y/o at the time. A buddy and myself borrowed Dad's K-5 Blazer (we were on vacation and camping at Ft. Pickens) and headed towards the cutoff at battery Cooper where you could drive all the way to the beach. About 1/2 way to the beach off the asphalt drive, we came up to an F250 ford pulling the prop boat that was shown to be sunk on the shore, stuck - big time. Well, being 15, armed with my drivers permit and a cooler of cold drinks, we decided to pull him out. Hooked the chain up and immediatly sank that K5 t the frame. Chain didn't have the pin that enabled the clevace to be removed so we were stuck together with no way to move b/c of the tight chain. A few hours later, after a pull from a big azz wrecker, we were free again and watched them put the boat down on the shore. Was offered an "extra" spot right then and there. It was great fun. BTW, the light house in the film was built right there at the point of the island at the pass.


----------



## dockmaster (Sep 27, 2007)

I was stationed at the CG Station on Santa Rosa Island during the filming. I remember on Monday morning they used our big brass bell outside on the porch for a part in the film...shark warning. They rang that damn thing all morning. Hell on a hangover! They also constructed a miniature lighthouse on the east beach on the pass at Fort Pickens and did beach scenes on the state park east of the CG station.
They sunk a barge or tug off Navarre, Had a bunch of their Hobie cats ripped off. They towed that shark all over the place!! pretty neat to see how they did it all. Made me understand why movies cost so much.
You never knew who you might be having a beer with at the local bars in those days!

BillD


----------



## Biller48 (Oct 1, 2008)

:notworthy::notworthy::thumbup::thumbup: Awesome!!!!


Jaw Jacker said:


> I tryed to get a job as an extra, but I had to dark of a sun tan. You had to be lilly white like a yankie. We watched them drag Jaws around from the Pier


----------



## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

I fished Navarre Pier nearly everyday back then and we always ventured down to the Holiday Inn to see what was going on. We actually watched them film one of the sail boat scenes right in front of the holiday inn. Roy Schieder would take a dip in the outside pool nearly every day and we would swim underwater to where he was and would pop up beside him and someone else would take a picture for us. I am sure he hated seeing us each day but he never said anything. My grandfather was actually surf fishing out there one day and the film crew asked him if they could film him for a small part in the movie. He declined thinking that he might lose his social security check if they paid him for that! I had several friends that were in the beach scenes but I did not get picked.


----------



## Ultralite (Oct 1, 2007)

SHatten said:


> The movie headquarters was indeed at the former Holiday Inn in Navarre however a lot of the actual movie was filmed in Pensacola Bay and in the area of Pensacola Pass. The village and lighthouse that was in the film was located on the beach behind Fort Pickens....this is where a lot of the movie was filmed. They had a big maintenance building (old 7UP bottling company) on Navy Blvd where they kept the shark and did most of the repairs. Interesting times...watched a lot of the filming while out in the bay/gulf.


during the shooting of II, a fake killer whale was positioned on the bay side just inside ft. pickens pt. and the surf was crankin' on the point and bay at the time...we spent almost 2 weeks surfing there and you could walk up to the prop shark on the beach and "knock" on it as it was framed in wood or fiberglass and stuffed with meat to simulate a dead shark...got in the shoot as a back drop and mingler on the beach for $100...


----------



## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Ultralite said:


> ...got in the shoot as a back drop and mingler on the beach for $100...


WOW. Didn't know I actually know a movie star. Can I have your autograph the next time I see you?


----------



## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Interesting thread. I wasn't aware of any of this.


----------



## Ultralite (Oct 1, 2007)

yes vallco...crap! i can never remember how to pronounce it but, i'm a legend in my own mind...


----------



## fishnfool (Oct 2, 2007)

I remember watching some of the action down there and it was funny because the K5 Blazer they uaed for the filming had Michigan plates on it and the film ws based in the northeast......just something to watch for.


----------



## cuzmondo (Oct 1, 2007)

*Jaws II*

They also had a crew at the area now known as Polynesian Isles; this was long before there were any houses here and the canals were open to the bay. Me and my then girl friend were down in the area doing what young boys and girls do and were approached by a very secretive and "wanna be" type security guard. It was a pretty good size operation and they ran us out of the area, but I was able to go back later in the daylight and see one of the shark props and some of the smaller boats. I don't know if they actually did any filming there of just used the area as a staging area, but it was pretty remote at the time and could easily have been used for some filming. The also built a piece of crap pier on the gulf behind the Holiday Inn which I suppose was used just for filming on the water cause it was some kinda rickety. Me and one of my buddy's went out on it one night and got to the end of it and started rocking it to the point we had it wiggling back and forth from the end all the way back to the beach. Yeah, we got ran out of there too, but hey it was good times. We used to sneak into the Holiday Inn Navarre pool to swim all the time, so it was just another local adventure for us. :thumbsup: I only wish we had the conveniences of cell phone camera's then.


----------



## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

The fake lighthouse that they built at Ft. Pickens was amazing. The artist had algae looking strands on the bottom of it. There were tents still up that summer for quite a while. I had some photos but I'm not sure what happened to them.


----------



## behappy79 (Sep 2, 2011)

Originally Posted by *Jaw Jacker*  
_I tryed to get a job as an extra, but I had to dark of a sun tan. You had to be lilly white like a yankie._
_hey some of us might resemble that remark lol_


----------



## TURTLE (May 22, 2008)

*I remember seeing a part of the shark at a house on the beach. They had it covered for the most part but the cover would blow off every once in a while and you could see it. And the seen that was in the indoor pool part of the old Holiday Inn my wifes friend is walking around in the crowd, I thought it was cool, still watch that part and when Roy Schnieder walks into the water and finds the burt Ski'r at Ft Pickens.*


----------



## Big E Nuff (Oct 4, 2007)

Short Version

I had the opportunity of teaching Richard Zanuck the other producer of JAWS II how to water ski for a scene he was going to do in the movie. After a week of ski lessons at $100.00 an hour he decide he wasn't going to do it and offered it to me. Well the next day I left for Martha's Vineyard for two months to do background filming, so it would look like the water ski scene I was to do in Navarre, would look like they were filmed up their ( Martha's Vineyard ). I came back to Pensacola and spent the next month or so being dragged by my neck with a ski rope for a death seen I was in. After all that my scene as Billy was cut out because of "to many death scenes". Back then they rated a movie like PG or R by how many death scenes there are and they were afraid if it got and R rating they couldn't sell as many tickets, so I was told. Needless to say when I got that news I was not singing *Hooray For Hollywood*. Oh well, it was a great once of a life time experience with lots of great times and memories I'll always cherish.


----------



## Catchin Hell (Oct 9, 2007)

Orion45 said:


> Interesting thread. I wasn't aware of any of this.


LOL... Glad I wasn't the only one:thumbup:


----------



## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Makes me want to watch it again.


----------



## dockmaster (Sep 27, 2007)

http://movieclips.com/i9th-jaws-2-movie-trailer-1/

Here ya go......


----------



## sandphlea (Feb 21, 2009)

I was in about 13 at the time this was being filmed and my back yard was the Choctawhatchee bay. I watched them drag that, what we called rock island, barge out into the bay. Spent many days / nights climbing around on that “platform for teenage corruption”. Unfortunately, watching them film was the most boring thing I have ever tried to do. I watched that whole scene where the boat crashed into the island and the sail boats were being attacked. And of course the shark, at 13 in 1977, look so real.
They also filmed at the Hogs Breath in FWB…not sure which scene though.


----------



## FishinFreak (Oct 2, 2007)

Our folks took me and Jamie there (Holiday Inn Navarre) several times during the filming. I was amazed at the size of the prop sharks they had on the trailers. They had 4 of them as I remember and they were named Bruce 1, 2, 3, and 4. I also remember the lighthouse out on Ft. Pickens point. I wish I had pics of that stuff. I miss the old Holiday Inn in Navarre.


----------



## Fanner50 (Oct 25, 2011)

SHunter said:


> The fake lighthouse that they built at Ft. Pickens was amazing. The artist had algae looking strands on the bottom of it. There were tents still up that summer for quite a while. I had some photos but I'm not sure what happened to them.


I have a large picture of the lighthouse hanging on wall in the "computer room."
From the angle that I took the picture it looks like a real lighthouse. I need to try to locate the slide and get a digital copy made of it. My wife and I had a good time on the beach that day, taking pictures and just messin' around. :yes:


----------

