The real-life places where Jaws was filmed

Pour out a drop of ocean water in memory of Bruce, the best mechanical movie shark ever. As unreliable as he was unwieldy (at 25 feet long), Bruce was allergic to salt, named after a lawyer, and unable to float on his own. In other words? Dude was a high-maintenance Hollywood fish. But because this is Hollywood, here's the twist — Bruce's flaws led to Jaws' success.

Shark or no shark, making a movie is an unpredictable process with a potential for chaos that no amount of planning can completely eliminate — something young Steven Spielberg learned on the spot. Because while his original vision for Bruce was more ferocious, less fake, more close-ups, and less off-screen, once the filmmaker realized how mechanical this fiberglass shark looked, he changed direction. Working with the problem, rather than against it, Spielberg re-wrote the script to focus more on the anticipation of seeing Bruce rather than the actual… sight of him. This emphasis gave Jaws its now-legendary level of nail-biting, Hitchcockian-style suspense, making it the scary classic we know and love today.

Another reason why Jaws is so unique? As they say in the real estate game: location, location, location. Because while most films used (and still use) massive water tanks as oceanic stand-ins (from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to Titanic), Spielberg insisted on an open water shoot, AKA a director's nightmare. This quest for authenticity led the director to the East Coast in search of an Amity Island stand-in, and Martha's Vineyard fit the bill. This also meant Jaws would end up going way over budget — but it was worth it.

From a historic Massachusetts whaling village to a San Fernando Valley swimming pool, here's all of the real-life places where the ultimate shark story, Jaws, was filmed.

Martha's Vineyard, MA (as Amity Island)

Amity Island, the small beach town terrorized by the world's most famous shark, first came to life in the pages of Peter Benchley's book Jaws, which the film is based on. But good news, surfers — Amity Island doesn't really exist! Its stand-in, Martha's Vineyard (which is, yes, an island), was chosen for its East Coast locale, isolated feeling, and, perhaps most importantly, its wide, shallow beaches. We can't think of a more perfect location for hundreds of terrified, sand-covered beach-goers to run screaming from.

Edgartown South Beach, MA and Cow Beach, MA (as Chrissie's last stand)

If we've learned anything over the years, it's that if you're named Chrissie, you need to watch your back. No, seriously. The blissful bonfire before the original Chrissie's (Susan Backlinie) untimely death was filmed at Edgartown South Beach, a gorgeously unspoiled stretch of public beach in Martha's Vineyard. But if you really want to go swimming where she became Bruce's first course, seek out Cow Beach, also in Edgartown (the water was more shallow, which helped accommodate the not-so-buoyant Bruce). Maybe just don't go alone, at night, pretty please? And remember, just like Chrissie, the audience never saw him coming — until it was too late! (Duh-Duh. Duh-Duh. Duhda-Duhda...)

Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, MA (as Downtown Amity)

As picture perfect now as it was in 1974, Edgartown still looks like the whaling village it once was, charming visitors with white clapboard buildings, fresh sea air, and quaint old-fashioned streets. The first colonial settlement built on Martha's Vineyard made the perfect setting for the Amity police station (South Water St. and Davis Lane), the Amity Gazette (South Water St.), and the Amity hardware store, (corner of South Water and Main St.). Though none of those buildings ever housed cops, reporters, or caulk guns, from the outside they look nearly the same as they did on film. There's one exception to the rule: the Amity Town Hall was, and still is, the real Edgartown Town Hall, and it's right there on Main St. If you really want to nerd out, the interior filming location of Amity hardware is at 55 Main St., though it's a restaurant — not a place to pick up supplies for "no swimming" signs, as Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) once did.

American Legion Memorial Bridge, Sengekontacket Pond, MA (as the "Jaws Bridge")

In a case of life imitating art, this bridge over Sengekontacket Pond (say it three times fast), between Edgartown and Oak Bluffs, is now semi-officially known as the "Jaws Bridge" (check Google Maps if you don't believe us). Though you're not "officially" allowed, leaping off of this bridge into the water remains a favorite pastime. Just try to refrain from yelling "SHARK!" as you do so (though area residents have, shall we say, heard this one before).

Edgartown Harbor, Martha's Vineyard, MA (as Amity Harbor)

This harbor — a quaint, watery cul-de-sac full of weathered gray-shingled buildings — is where Chief Brody first meets Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss, in a very cute watchcap). It's also one of the signature scenes, crammed with local extras, overlapping dialogue, yelling, people tossing red meat (!) and fireworks (!!) off moving boats, dogs, and controlled chaos. It's the kind of loose, naturalistically funny-and-frenetic scene that Spielberg would continue to deploy in his later films, notably Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.

Chappy Ferry, Edgartown, MA (as the Amity Ferry)

If you want to re-enact yet another scene where the Mayor refuses to listen to reason, 53 Dock Street is where you'll need to go. This tiny ferry holds just a few cars and takes about that many minutes to get across the water, taking you from Edgartown to Chappaquiddick. Drive on up and cruise across, these ferries run multiple times a day — blazers optional.

Gay Head Lighthouse, Aquinnah, MA (as the Amity Island coast)

As the Mayor of Amity Island, Mr. Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) favors anchor-festooned blazers, pipes, and…tourism dollars. Perhaps the ultimate politician, Vaughn remains unconvinced that the shark is a threat, even with two of the '70s greatest emoters, Dreyfuss and Schieder, bearing down on him in full scene-chewing force. The Gay Head Lighthouse, perched on the gorgeous, craggy clay cliffs of Aquinnah, MA, on the western tip of Martha's Vineyard, provided the scenic background to this battle.

Menemsha Village, MA (as the home of Quint's shop)

Though Captain Quint's jawbone-and-fishing-net festooned shop was built for the film and no longer exists, this straight-outta-Popeye, working fishing village remains quirky as ever. As you gaze at the adorable little tumbledown buildings and shack-ettes and watch the seagulls circle, pour out a shot of apricot brandy for Quint (Robert Shaw) who became Bruce's lunch, shoes first.

Verna Field's Backyard Pool, Encino, CA (as the Atlantic Ocean)

Now this is the kind of trivia we live for, a scrappy tale of creative resourcefulness that literally made our jaws (heh) drop the first time we heard it. Here's the deal: Spielberg needed one more shot, namely, the severed-head-floating-from-a-shipwreck moment, aka the ultimate jump scare — but the film had already wrapped. Enter Ms. Verna Field, film editor and owner of a modest backyard pool behind her house in…Encino? How do you make a pool in the Valley stand in for the Atlantic Ocean? Add a gallon of milk, of course! The whole "hey kids let's put on a show!" vibe of this tale makes Verna's Pool our favorite location, fins down.

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• A brief history of sharks in pop culture