CREDITS JAWS, 1975 dir: Steven Spielberg Roy Scheider Richard Dreyfuss Robert Shaw

“You're gonna need a bigger boat...”

Dazzlingly directed thriller that launched the Spielberg phenomenon and spawned a shoal of increasingly sloppy sequels and copies.

The fictitious ‘Amity Island’ is swanky holiday retreat Marthaís Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts.

I got the impression that Martha’s Vineyard wants to be known for its whaling history, its clapboard cottages and its literary heritage, not for being the location for one of Hollywood’s greatest blockbusters.

That’s where the real island does differ from Amity. I suspect the savvy businessfolk of Amity would have gone on to promote the Xtreme Shark Attack Experience with their own animatronic Great White.

The prestigious resort remains relatively unspoiled since its heyday as a whaling centre in the 19th century, and the movieís locations remain unchanged.

Jaws location: Chief Brody gets paintbrushes in the town centre of ‘Amity island’: Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard

The town centre, where Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) gets materials for the ‘Beach closed’ signs, is the junction of Water Street and Main Street, Edgartown, the one-time whaling town on the east coast.

Jaws location: the mayor has a word with Chief Brody: Chappaquiddick Island Ferry, Martha's Vineyard

At the end of Daggett Street, at the northern end of town, you’ll find the Chappaquiddick Island Ferry, where the Mayor has a quiet word about boating accidents. The ferry takes pedestrians, bikes and up to three cars at a time.

West of the coast road north from Edgartown toward the popular resort of Oak Bluffs is Joseph A Sylvia State Beach, where the swimmers are panicked by the attack on the Kintner boy.

Alongside is the American Legion Memorial Bridge, under which the shark swims to the ‘safe’ inlet, Sengekontacket Pond, where Brody’s son is traumatised by the attack.

Jaws location: the site of Quint's workshop: Menemsha harbor, Martha's Vineyard

Across the island, toward the southwest tip, is the tiny fishing port of Menemsha. It was here, at the end of the harbour inlet between the General Store and the Galley Restaurant that the workshed of old seadog Quint (Robert Shaw) was built. As a permanent structure would have had to meet the island’s strict building regulations, the area was restored to its original state after shooting, and is once again an empty lot.

Jaws location: the Orca sets sail: Menemsha Harbor, Martha's Vineyard

The Orca’s scenes were filmed over 155 days at sea between Oak Bluffs and East Chop, under well-documented nightmare conditions.

The great shock moment, when Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) discovers the old fisherman’s nibbled head in the wrecked boat, was added as an afterthought. The ‘head’ shot was staged in the swimming pool of the movie’s editor, Verna Field.