Catching up with Joe Jaws (Part 2 of 3)

Wildwood Leader clipping 
(Courtesy of Vince Sculli)

Vincent Sculli became a seminal figure in Wildwood during the Summer of 1975.

With the island caught up in the frenzy that surrounded the release of Jaws, the then-14-year old held court daily at the old Blaker Theater. Nicknamed "Joe Jaws," he attended more consecutive showings of the killer shark blockbuster than anyone else (employees included).

In Part 2 of our three-part feature, Sculli talks about how his local celebrity status took off after he was featured in the Wildwood Leader, his only negative experience that summer (and how it ultimately became a positive), going on to work for the Hunts, and more...

Read Part 1 of the interview HERE.

Al Alven:  So, the Leader article comes out, and you're no longer just Joe Jaws at the Blaker - you officially become a Wildwood celebrity. How did things change after that?

Vincent Sculli:  I started getting noticed even more, not just by the theater employees. All around town, up on the Boardwalk, the beach. People just started coming up to me. At the Blaker, I was always the first in line, two hours before showtime. The long line would form, and I would sign autographs by the box office. Merle Paul always knew how to capitalize on a situation for promotion. They had these posters there, keeping track of how many times I'd seen the movie. Mike Quattrone, the manager of the Blaker, put the Leader article in the box office window. Between shows, I would stand outside the Blaker, talking to people about Jaws. They offered me free admittance to the showings. But, I refused because I wanted those ticket stubs. I had to pay to get them, to keep track and add to my collection. It had to be official; I was really serious about that. But, they did take care of me in other ways. I couldn't pay for food at the concession stands, things like that.

AA:  You were the Blaker VIP.

VS:  (laughs) Yeah, you could say that. Funny story, though. When Jaws first opened, I used to go to the box office and really battled with the ticket lady. In those days, kids 12 and under got in for... I think it was under a buck. Everyone else was $3.50. I always told the lady I was 12 to try to get in cheaper. Of course, I was 14 and I looked even older, so she wouldn't buy it. But, I tried really hard. A few weeks later, no one ever questioned me. I could have gone to every show for free, if I had wanted to. But, it wasn't that way at first.

AA:  Was there ever a point where it hit you, that all of this was pretty cool?

VS:  Yeah, it happened a few weeks after the movie came out and after the Leader story. I was on the beach with my family, when one of those banner planes flew overhead. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was an advertisement for Jaws, asking how many times you've seen the movie. That was because of me, and Merle was playing off of the article. Seeing that really made me think. That was quite a moment.

AA:  Were there any drawbacks to being Joe Jaws?

VS:  Not really. It was such a fun summer, and I enjoyed every minute of it. It all went by so fast; at least, it seemed that way, looking back on it. I met so many people and most of them were so nice to me. I will tell you about one negative thing that happened... but, there was a positive side to the story in the end.

AA:  What happened?

VS:  Well, I got jumped one night on the Boardwalk. It was after the last showing of Jaws, pretty late. Two kids, they were a few years older than me. They were very rude to a family waiting in line at the Blaker earlier, and they had a problem with me. This actually happened the same day that I did the interview for the Leader, that night. The hat I'm wearing in that photo, they took and threw it away. I lost it, never got it back.

AA:  That's awful. But, you said there was a positive outcome?

VS:  There was. I got so much support from the people at the Blaker when they found out the next day. Some of the ushers, they wanted to go out and find these guys who did this. They never did, but just knowing that they all had my back meant the world to me. Like I said before, it was like an extended family there. I'll never forget the way they treated me and took me in.

AA: On that note, in the Leader story, you mentioned wanting to work for the Hunts. Did it happen?

VS:  Actually, it did! I started the very next summer, 1976. That was the year Rocky came out. Joe Jaws became an usher. I traded my Jaws t-shirt in for an official Hunt's Theatre uniform. Do you remember them? All ushers wore blue suits with an "H" emblem on the jacket, pants with a gold stripe down the sides. Ushers had a blue braid on the arm, assistant head ushers had a blue and gold braid, and the head ushers had a gold braid. My last year, in 1978, when I finally got promoted to head usher, they went to red jackets and black pants.

AA:  Such attention to detail. Hunt's Theatres was a first class operation.

VS:  Top notch, all the way.

AA:  So, you worked as an usher for three years?

VS:  Three summers, and I also worked one year at Hunt's Pier. Merle Paul had a game wheel, which I ran. That was a magical time in Wildwood. Anyone who grew up with Hunt's Pier knows how special it was, with the Golden Nugget, the pirate ship (SKUA), all of those great custom rides. You had the Flyer, Jungleland, the Wacky Shack... remember the Himalaya? It was such a unique atmosphere and so much fun to be a part of.

AA:  Do any particular memories stand out from those years, working for the Hunts? Either at the theaters or the pier?

VS:  Being a movie nut and having such an almost personal relationship with the Blaker itself, going on to work there was big deal. A real big deal for me. I was still just a teenager, enjoying my summers in Wildwood and now making some extra money working at a job I loved. The excitement of Wildwood in those days... being at the theaters when Rocky came in the year after Jaws, then Star Wars in 1977. These weren't just movies, they were like major events. They were huge then; like I said before, it was a different time. Those lines that wrapped around the corner, people lining up two hours before the movies started... that didn't last forever. In fact, it wouldn't last for much longer than that. But, to be there, in the middle of it all at that time in my life, in Wildwood, it was incredible. I'll never forget it.

To be concluded...

Coming up in Part 3:  Sculli discusses summers in Wildwood, then and now. Also, was he ever afraid to go in to the ocean because of Jaws? And, what were his thoughts on the Jaws sequels? Joe Jaws will put it all in perspective in the final part of our interview special on Friday.

Catching up with Joe Jaws (Part 1 of 3)

Photo by Merle Paul, Hunt's Theaters

This week marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Jaws, the film often credited with creating - and defining - the summer blockbuster genre.

The second project completed by then-28-year-old director Steven Spielberg, it became the first movie to gross over $100 million at the box office. In fact, it accomplished that feat by the end of the Summer of 1975.

The tale of a killer shark terrorizing a small resort town sent moviegoers into a frenzy, nationwide. But in the beach towns of the Wildwoods along the southern New Jersey coast, the story resonated in a unique way.

It also helped create an unlikely local celebrity out of a 14-year-old kid from Yeadon, Pennsylvania named Vincent Sculli. It was at the old Blaker Theater (Atlantic & Cedar) that Sculli held court, often catching all three showings of the film on a particular day.

Sculli, who came to be known as "Joe Jaws," saw the film nearly 70 times before the summer was over. Now a sales manager in Bala Cynwood, PA, happily married with children, he reflects on that crazy summer, three and a half decades ago...

Al Alven:  First off, Vince, thanks for taking the time out to talk about your experience with Jaws and the Summer of 1975. I've been looking forward to this.

Vincent Sculli:  It's my pleasure. It was a special time, one filled with so many memories. It was another era and things were a little different then. I was a 14-year-old kid who became a local celebrity. It's hard to believe that it all happened 35 years ago. Makes me feel old!

AA:  Lets go back to the very beginning. Tell me about the origin of Joe Jaws and how it all came about.

VS:  It's funny, because I wasn't overly excited about Jaws prior to seeing it. I was a big fan of disaster movies like the Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno, which was a huge hit the year before Jaws came out. I was enamored with Towering Inferno, which had Steve McQueen, Paul Newman... just a great cast. I saw it every opportunity I got. One memory is seeing it at the Shore Twin in Wildwood during a weekend trip in February of 1975. It was a packed house.

AA:  Wow, in February?

VS:  Yeah, that's how things were in those days. Even during the winter, Hunt's Theaters did great business, and the Shore and Casino were open year round. Because Towering Inferno was so popular and I was so into it, I had counted upon that carrying over into the the summer that year. But, that didn't happen. I was really disappointed that it wasn't playing at the Blaker Theater, when I got down to Wildwood for the summer. So, this movie called Jaws is the new premier attraction. It comes in with incredible hype, but my attitude at first is, well, it isn't Towering Inferno.

AA:  How quickly did your attitude toward Jaws change?

VS:  Oh, it took no time at all (laughs). First time I saw it. You know the scene where Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) is investigating Ben Gardner's boat and the head pops out? The whole theater screamed and I was practically climbing under my seat. From that point, I was completely hooked. I became obsessed with Jaws and forgot all about Towering Inferno. There were usually, I think, three showings daily at the Blaker - one in the afternoon and two in the evening (1:30, 7:00, and 10:00 p.m.). I was there for every one, first in line, front row on the end of the aisle. I memorized the whole thing, every line; could recite the movie frontwards and backwards.

AA:  What was it about Jaws that enthralled you, specifically?

VS:  I don't think I can say that it was any one thing, but I guess it was the whole experience. I loved the movie, first and foremost. And I was definitely not alone in that. Being in Wildwood, with the setting of the beach and the ocean right there, it gave the story an added dimension. That famous John Williams score, I think everyone in Wildwood was humming it all summer long.

AA:  It wouldn't have been the same without the music.

VS:  Definitely not. It added the tension, that sense that you didn't know what was around the corner. It built the anticipation perfectly. I still get chills down my spine when I hear it. But, getting back to your question, I think what fascinated me most about Jaws, the reason I was so into it, was a combination of everything about the movie and all of the excitement around it. Everyone just went crazy over it and it was a really fun time. Being a part of that scene was amazing.

AA:  And you became a huge part of that scene at the Blaker. Part of the attraction, actually...

VS:  Yeah, before long the ushers began to see me as a regular, being there for every show. I got to know all of the theater employees very well and they treated me like family. One day, one of the ushers called me "Joe," and soon they all began referring to me as "Joe Jaws." I was tall for my age, and wore a bright orange shirt with the Jaws logo on the front, and a bucket hat. So, I had a pretty distinctive look. People began to recognize me. And things really took off after I was featured in the Wildwood Leader.

AA:  How were you approached for the article?

VS:  Actually, Merle Paul, the general manager of Hunt's Theatres and the Hunts' publicist, got in touch with the Leader and suggested they send someone over to interview me. I was fine with it, so long as it didn't interfere or disrupt my routine. So, the reporter (Gary Cummings) had to interview me while I sat in my front row seat, as the movie played. He asked me questions and I'd answer, but I never took my eyes off the screen. I wasn't going to miss a second of it.

AA:  According to the Leader story, you had seen Jaws almost 30 times to that point.

VS:  Right. And I had the ticket stubs from every showing. I was really dedicated to it.

AA:  Is it safe to say that if the reporter had asked to do the interview in the lobby, while the movie was being played, all bets would have been off?

VS:  Absolutely. I would have refused to do it. Before or after the movie, fine. But nothing was going to keep me from my usual seat while it was being played. No way.

AA: How did you perceive the situation at the time? Here you are at 14, having the time of your life, and the local newspaper sends someone out to talk to you, essentially on your own terms. You must have felt like a pretty big deal.

VS:  In some ways, sure. But, really, I didn't think all that much about it. I had become such a Jaws fanatic, and for me, it was all about the movie. I loved being Joe Jaws, I really liked the recognition. But, again, the best thing was just being a part of it all. When I think about it, my primary concern in life then was making sure I got out to see every showing of Jaws. I didn't have bills to worry about, or any of that stuff. I was just having so much fun, being at the Blaker every day that summer.

To be continued...

Coming up in Part 2: Sculli discusses how things changed for him after the Leader story was published, whether or not there were any negatives to being Joe Jaws, going on to work for the Hunts, and more.

(Skip ahead to Part 2 & Part 3)