A lined, three-hole-punched sheet of paper labeled as a police “Death Report” from the production of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster classic Jaws (Universal, 1975). Multiple printed boxes feature typed information, with the most prominently being the box labeled, “Probable Cause of Death,” filled in with the words, “SHARK ATTACK.” Near the beginning of the film, Amity police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) surveys the mangled body of a young woman that washed up on the beach. He returns to the police station to fill out the Death Report when he receives a call from the Coroner. As Brody listens to what the Coroner tells him over the phone, he types out the words, “SHARK ATTACK” in the “Probable Cause of Death” box. This is a pivotal early moment, as it is the first time in the film that the notion of a shark is introduced. The significance of this moment is highlighted in typical Spielbergian fashion, as the filmmaker cuts to an extreme close up of the Death Report as each letter of “SHARK ATTACK” is meticulously typed out. All of this is done without the word “shark” being uttered out loud by either character as well, allowing the power of the two words being typed out to indicate to the audience the severity of the situation.On the back of this sheet is a handwritten annotation in blue ink that reads, “SCENE 21 / TK-2 / SHARK ATTACK / TYPED TOO FAST.” This indicates that this sheet was the one used for the second take of this shot during the production, and that this take would most likely not be used because “SHARK ATTACK” was typed too fast. This is confirmed as well by the minor differences between this production-used sheet and the screen-used sheet. These differences include the typed address is bleeding into the “Probable Cause of Death” box on the screen-used sheet and not on this sheet, the typed date and time of death is bleeding more into the “Occupation of Deceased” box on this sheet than on the screen-used sheet, and this sheet the “Removed By” box filled with the typed word, “C*CORNER,” whereas it appears on the screen-used sheet as, “C-CORNER.” The typefont for the printed words and the typed words are consistent with each other, confirming that the two sheets match from the production. Charmingly, both sheets have the word “coroner” misspelled in multiple places as “corner,” indicating the swiftness with which Brody is typing up this report means that his attention to detail is not that sharp.Other boxes feature additional typed information including, “Name of Deceased (Last, First, Middle) - Worthington, Christine,” “Location of Occurrence - South Beach Shores,” and, “Deceased's Residence Address - 107 Polly Road, Vineyard Woods.”From the collection of a member of the film's post-production team.

10.75 x 8.5 x 0.25 in; 27.31 x 21.59 x 0.64 cm

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