Jaws (1975) - Chrissie's Last Swim Scene (1/10) | Movieclips

CLIP DESCRIPTION:
While out for a moonlight dip, young Chrissy (Susan Backlinie) is brutally attacked by the shark.

FILM DESCRIPTION:
Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while frightening millions of moviegoers out of the water. One early summer night on fictional Atlantic resort Amity Island, Chrissie decides to take a moonlight skinny dip while her friends party on the beach. Yanked suddenly below the ocean surface, she never returns. When pieces of her wash ashore, Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) suspects the worst, but Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton), mindful of the lucrative tourist trade and the approaching July 4th holiday, refuses to put the island on a business-killing shark alert. After the shark dines on a few more victims, the Mayor orders the local fishermen to catch the culprit. Satisfied with the shark they find, the greedy Mayor reopens the beaches, despite the warning from visiting ichthyologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) that the attacks were probably caused by a far more formidable Great White. One more fatality later, Brody and Hooper join forces with flinty old salt Quint (Robert Shaw), the only local fisherman willing to take on a Great White--especially since the price is right. The three ride off on Quint's boat "The Orca," soon coming face to teeth with the enemy.

CREDITS:
TM & © Universal (1975)
Cast: Jonathan Filley, Susan Backlinie, Denise Cheshire
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producers: Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown
Screenwriters: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb

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[foxmulder]

What gets me more than anything is her crying for help right before she's pulled under. The actress playing Chrissie really does an amazing job.

[earlclark]

One of the most terrifying beginnings in movie history, and you don't even see the shark. Brilliant. Her being pulled under in mid-scream is horrifying.

[ShaneNagy]

Can you just imagine being half inside a shark’s mouth literally knowing you’re about to die and you’re last couple seconds of life literally seeing yourself being eaten… legit so horrifying

[emmaduncan]

truly one of the great opening scenes in film history. epic.

[SJMJ]

Something else I find scary: after Chrissie gets dragged underwater and eaten, the water goes calm and there's pure silence. It's almost as if nothing happened and Spielberg was a genius to allow a few seconds of time for us to feel that the innocence of water and everything in it has now suddenly become a massive threat. And the narrative time setting is symbolic. Taking place in the early hours of the morning, it also represented what appeared to be the beginning of the shark's rampage. There are so many other great things about this opening that makes it one of cinema's most iconic scenes of all time.

[hunterwilder]

From Susan Backlinie’s Wikipedia article: “Contrary to rumor, Backlinie’s startled reaction and screams of anguish were not due to her being injured by the harness that yanked her back and forth in the water. However, she was attached to a line that was anchored to the ocean floor beneath her, and she was intentionally not warned when she would be first pulled underwater. This helped provoke a more genuine expression of surprise from her initially - but the remainder of her performance was her own as an actress”

[noncrediblecase]

This scene has some real life truth to it. It's generally unsafe to swim in the ocean at dusk and nighttime, since sharks are most active at this time.

[어엿먹-is]

This is one time being drunk saved your life!

[skyguy]

Fun Fact: The actress playing Chrissie is actually wearing a harness that is attached to ropes that led to the shore. On the beach, to create the effect of the shark dragging her through the water, crew members ran with the ropes from one side of the beach to the other. So, it was basically a massive game of tug-of-war.

Bonus Fun Fact: The first time the actress was pulled under the water, it was Spielberg pulling her down.

[DrArchivist]

The scene that forever changed the way people felt about the ocean. And with good reason, it's terrifying! In reality I don't think a shark the size of Jaws could stay completely submerged during an attack like that, but who cares? The scene invokes so much primal terror. A masterpiece.

[RATSGAME]

When she gets pulled off the buoy and cries "Oh my god I'm gonna die", it is the scariest thing I have ever watched and heard in my entire life. I've never been able to get it out of my head since I saw this in the theater.

[tommyboy]

My heart breaks when she screams “it hurts!” and being thrashed around in the water like that... this scene was so well acted by her, gives me chills 😰 absolutely terrifying

[RandolfPatton]

Susan Backlinie should have been nominated for SOMETHING.

Truly one of the most realistic and terrifying death scenes in cinema history! As she's holding on to the buoy the doom and resignation she conveys is heartbreaking and utterly believable...amazing performance!

[sspdirect]

I still get chills down my spine during this scene.

[eduardofagundes]

It's 2020 and Chrissie's death scene still scares the s... out of me.

[soulkiss]

Probably one of the most disturbing movie scenes in cinema history!

[Jackie-McCann]

My mom and I met Susan Blacklinie (Chrissy) a couple months ago at a horror convention.

We were passing by her booth, and my mom, who had actually been watching a "Jaws" documentary right before we left for the convention earlier that day, was like, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S THE FIRST VICTIM FROM 'JAWS'!", and the next thing I knew, my mom was talking with her about the behind-the-scenes of the movie for probably a good 10 minutes!

It was funny as hell to see my MOM be the fangirl for once instead of me! XD

[alc]

Ughhh the calmness and the silence after her crying out is just soooo perfectly well done. Steven Spielberg needs to do another monster movie

[bdawgz]

The most honest moments in this for me is when she does that hyperventilating at 1:40 and when she's holding onto the buoy and mumbling to herself. Gets me every time

[HP]

I think what made this scene scarier is that we couldn't see what the shark was doing. Like did it take her legs? Was there a side of her missing? No. It just happened and we couldn't do anything but imagine what was going on!