Fifty years after its release, Steven Spielberg's formative blockbuster looks more than ever like a New Hollywood fusion of Hitchcock and Altman.

When author Peter Benchley’s 1974 book was going to print, he needed to choose a title. He has juggled various titles — “Leviathan Rising,” “Silent Fall” — before, at the last minute, choosing “Jaws.” What did it mean? Benchley, himself, wasn’t sure, he told his editor, but it was short.