Peter Benchley dead at 65
"The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The mouth was open just enough to permit a rush of water over the gills."When I read that I thought, "He's speaking directly to me."
Peter Benchley died yesterday, very young. He was the grandson of humorist Robert Benchley and the son of Nathaniel Benchley (who wrote the book that would be adapted into the Norman Jewison film The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming). The Benchleys had strong ties to Nantucket Island, just across the water from Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws was filmed.
Jaws is my and many of my friends' favorite movie, but in many ways it is different from the book. The book is worth reading, though it does not transcend its pulpy genre the way the movie does. Benchley played a bit part as a TV reporter in the movie. I wonder what he thought about the tremendous thematic differences between his book and the movie adapted from it.
My friend Brian and I are writing a musical called All that Jaws which will debut this year. Here is a demo version of "Show Me the Way to Indianapolis".
Previously: To Kill Carcaridan Carcarias, It's A Wonderful Shark, My Jaws re-enactment
See also: Peter Benchley's website, All that Jaws official website, "Jaws" creator loved sharks
posted
by Marty Barrett at Monday, February 13, 2006
1 Comments:
I loved the "the Russians are coming, the russians are coming" and saw it several times when I was younger. They even had it on cable last year. I never noted the connection, though, with the blockbuster movie - "Jaws". Yet another father overshadowed by his son. Interesting....
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