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I love these.

Looking at those ads, I'm amazed at how few theaters Jaws was playing in. This is Detroit. Not the biggest city in the country, but still a major city. Back then, there just weren't that many large theaters around. There were the small, one screen theaters but those often showed second run or porn.

Lucky for me, the Showcase Cinema in Sterling Heights was practically in my backyard. I will never forget standing in line at the theater. The line went out the door, across the front of the theater, around the corner and all the way to the back of the building. The sun beat down on us and we were sweating and dying of thirst. Some people brought food and drinks so they could eat lunch while they were waiting in line. No one had ever seen anything like it at a movie theater.

And once inside, the theater was so packed, there were people standing in the aisles.

The audience was 100% engaged in the film. I'll never forget when Ben Gardner's head appeared in the hole - the audience screamed so loud. When Brody was slinging chum and the shark jumped, my mom grabbed my arm so hard it hurt. People were spilling their popcorn.

It was one of those times when you walk into a theater - and when you walk out, blinking in the sunlight, you are a different person.

To me, this is what it means to be entertained. One the reasons I'm still a horror fan to this day is because I want to relive that experience of being totally drawn in and scared sh**less by a film. I've been chasing the dragon ever since.

Wolfman - considering all the moving around I've done, it's amazing I still had the scrapbook.

Bill - thanks for sharing that story. It must have been an incredible thrill to see an advance screening of Jaws, before anybody knew what to expect. And you're right about the number of theaters back then. Those little privately owned single screen theaters were everywhere. And you never could tell what would show up at them. When Star Wars opened it was only at one theater - the Americana. We had to drive across town to see it.

Gil Ray - Yeah! I want to see "Fancy Moore"! It's amazing when you think about it today, but the newspapers used to be full of ads for XXX movies and Hot! Live! Action! And I'm dying to know what "Blackmail for Daddy" was.

Spoiler II - Those are great ads. Man, I couldn't imagine sitting through Coal Miner's Daughter waiting to see Jaws II. What a bizarre pairing. Do you remember what year Jaws came back for its second run?

ryanbrennan - What do you mean when you say the "long version"? Did it have the extra scenes that later showed up on the TV airing? That's another cool theater experience - I'd like to see that comment card if you have a scan of it.

I'd like to hear any stories of people's first experience with Jaws.

Hey Rakshasa - I'm envious. Was the theater packed?

I've always felt that if they brought Jaws back to theaters the way they did with Exorcist a few years ago, it would make millions. That's easy money! Why don't they do it?

Great pictures. Who's the guy with the shark in that behind the scenes shot?

Oh, and I had that SAME t-shirt!