I've never read the novel, but from all the things I've heard from friends over the years about the stuff that was in the book (organized crime, extramarital affairs, etc.), I can't think of a single plot thread that I'm sorry they left out of the movie.
I read the novel well before the movie was released. In that period, I regularly went to screenings at the home of a friend who was good pals with Carl Gottlieb. He wrote the script and plays the town newspaper editor. When I learned he'd written the script, I said I sure hoped they left out that gangster nonsense.
"First thing to go," said Gottlieb.
And what about the shark expert's affair with the sherrif's wife?
"Second thing to go," he said.
"And that means---" I began.
Gottlieb knew where I was going, and finished my sentence: "....the shark expert lives at the end."
I've always thought it curious, and unfortunate, that his terrific script didn't get Gottlieb more writing jobs.
It was through Gottlieb that we heard about a sneak preview of JAWS at the Cinerama dome. This was a genuine sneak preview--almost nobody in the audience (at least of those who paid to get it) knew that the preview was JAWS, but the theater was packed anyway. I've rarely been in an audience that had a better time than that one.
Well, there was an exception--an oddity that I didn't hear explained for years. At the end, as the shark is gobbling up Quint, someone in the theater started cheering. The audience turned as one on this guy--they were VERY annoyed--and he shut up. I just chalked it up to some sick sadist; I assume other audience members did, too.
Many, MANY years later, I read an interview with Robert Zemickis. He was a production assistant to Spielberg when JAWS was made, and attended that Cinerama Dome screening. He knew how very hard it was to get the shark to do ANYthing, and wanted everyone to express appreciation for the effects team's hard work. So in the Quint-gets-it scene, he began cheering--cheering the effects team. It was HIM on whom the audience was turning.
The next day at the studio, Zemeckis walked into Steven's office just as he was saying to someone on the phone that he'd been told some sick s.o.b. had applauded Quint's death at the sneak preview. Zemeckis cleared his throat, said, "Uhhh, Steven...."

Last Edited By: Bill Warren Dec 13 07 5:10 PM. Edited 1 times.