Finally! Spielberg on “This is what happens …”
To many JAWS fans, the Hooper line “This is what happens …” during his autopsy of Chrissie’s remains has always not felt right. It seems like the scene was cut and it’s a bit jarring. Some have sworn that they saw the film in its original run and there was more dialogue. Finally, we have an answer from Steven Spielberg himself.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Empire magazine
, Steven Spielberg agreed to be the guest editor. In one article he even answers questions posed to him by various famous fans. Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns) is a huge JAWS fan, going so far to name his production company “Bad Hat Harry Productions” after a line in JAWS. Singer asks the question we all wanted answered: “There is a cut in JAWS that I always mean to ask you about, but always forget when I see you. When Richard Dreyfuss is examining the body parts, there’s a strange audio cut in the scene. It happens suddenly: there’s a woman’s severed hand, and Dreyfuss says, ‘This is what happens,’ and it feels like there was a strange cut made there. I’m wondering what the origin of that cut was — was it put in at the last minute? Was it a mis-cut? Was it intentional? If you can even remember …”
Here is Spielberg’s response:
“I remember this very well. I had cut out a line of dialogue and inside the line of dialogue I manufactured artificially a new line: ‘This is what happens.’ Originally, he said more than that. I can’t remember what he said exactly. (Editor) Verna Fields and I pieced together, ‘This is what happens,’ from other words he was saying because the scene was too long. I was able to cut a huge — maybe 30-second — part of the scene out, simply by cutting to the insert of the arm coming up and putting the words, ‘This is what happens,’ over it. I give Bryan Singer tremendous credit for catching it. That’s amazing anybody caught that. This is the first time anybody’s ever talked about it!
Note: I actually tried to ask a similar question of Mr. Spielberg when we were interviewing him for The Shark is Still Working. Because I was very star struck and Spielberg was on his way out, I wasn’t able to articulate my question as well as Singer and didn’t really get an answer, so it’s great to finally know what the intent of the scene was!
Make sure you pick up this fantastic issue of Empire magazine! It has a lot of great articles, including a Goonies cast reunion, exclusive interviews with film icons such as Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, a stellar photo portfolio of various stars, and much more. You can find it at your local Barnes and Noble or buy it online here: Buy the Empire 20th Anniversary Issue.
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i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
i have sworn for years that i have seen the dead body of Chrissie in the morgue in the tray. there are a couple of my friends that swear by it too! from what i can remember, if my brain serves me correctly, i remember seeing like the upper torso sort of ripped from the rib cage up to the opposite shoulder, with only one arm intact, and i swear, that she had an eye hanging out. maybe i am remembering correctly or not, i am not sure, and i am not sure where or when i seen it, it would have been in the real early 80s on tv and i was very young, 5 or 6 years old, but i have loved the movie for as long as i have been alive
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