Jaws (1975) · 71 quotes
4th most-quoted character in Jaws (1975): in 8 of its 71 quotes
Most scenes with: Chief Martin Brody (3)
I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have in fact caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But as you can see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are opened, and people are having a wonderful time. Amity, as you know, means friendship.
Mayor Larry Vaughn I don't think you appreciate the gut reaction people have to these things...Martin, It's all psychological. You yell 'Barracuda,' everybody says 'Huh? What?' You yell 'Shark,' we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.
Mayor Larry Vaughn Look fellas, let's be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish. And I am not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.
Mayor Larry Vaughn All right fellas, let's cut this ugly son-of-a-bitch down before it stinks up the whole island. Harv, you and Carl take it out tomorrow and dump it in the drink.
We're really a little anxious that you're, ah, you're rushing into something serious here. It's your first summer, you know.
What does that mean?
I'm only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars. If people can't swim here, they'll be glad to swim in the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island.
That doesn't mean we have to serve them up a smorgasbord.
We've never had that kind of trouble in these waters.
We're gonna put on the summer, the extra summer deputies as soon as possible. And then we're gonna try and use shark spotters on the beach.
Are we going to close the beaches?
Yes, we are. [There is loud grumbling in the audience.] We're also planning to bring in some experts from the Oceanographic Institute on the mainland.
Vaughn Only 24 hours.
I didn't agree to that.
This is a Great White, Larry, a big one. And any shark expert in the world'll tell ya it's a killer. It's a man-eater.
Look, the situation is that apparently, a Great White Shark has staked a claim in the waters off Amity Island, and he's going to continue to feed here as long as there is food in the water.
And there's no limit to what he's gonna do. I mean, we've already had three incidents. Two people killed inside of a week, and it's gonna happen again. It happened before. The Jersey beach. [He points at Hooper]...1916 - there were five people chewed up in the surf -
- in one week.
Tell him about the swimmers.
A shark is attracted to the exact kind of splashing and activity that occurs whenever human beings go in swimming. You cannot avoid it.
You open the beaches on the 4th of July, it's like ringing the dinner bell for Christ's sakes.
Look, Mr. Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn, I pulled a tooth the size of a shot glass out of the wrecked hull of a boat out there, and it was the tooth of a Great White.
It was Ben Gardner's boat. It was all chewed up. I helped tow it in. You should have seen it.
Vaughn Where, where is that tooth? Did you see it, Brody?...[To Hooper] And what did you say the name of this shark is?
Carcaradon carcharias. A Great White.
Vaughn But you don't have the tooth. Look, we depend on the summer people here for our very lives.
You are not going to have a summer unless you deal with this problem.
Vaughn And if you close those beaches, we're finished.
We're not only gonna have to close the beach, we're gonna have to hire somebody to kill the shark...
Vaughn I don't think either one of you are familiar with our problems.
I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you on the ass...There are two ways to deal with this problem: you're either going to kill this animal or you're gonna cut off its food supply.
Larry, we have to close the beaches!
Vaughn Look at that. Sick vandalism! This is a deliberate mutilation of a public service message. Now I want those little paint-happy bastards caught and hung up by their Buster Browns!
I'm not gonna waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch...Mr. Vaughn, what we are dealing with here is a perfect engine - uh, an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks, and that's all! Now why don't you take a long, close look at this sign. Those proportions are correct.
Vaughn Love to prove that, wouldn't ya? Get your name into the National Geographic.
Vaughn August! Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and we are going to open for business. It's going to be our best summer in years. If you're so concerned about the beaches, you two, you do whatever you have to to keep them safe, but with you or without you, those beaches will be open for this weekend.
Vaughn Any special questions?
Uh, is that $3000 bounty on the shark in cash or check?
Mrs. Taft I don't think that's funny. I don't think that's funny at all, I'm sorry.
