Scenes that never get old - The USS Indianapolis Monologue from Jaws

All the best movies have them. That one scene that you'll never ever tire of watching. That one scene that when you come across it on TV you give in and watch the rest of the film

We've all seen this film. It's a masterpiece. It's scary, tense as hell, always funnier than you remember too but it's the below scene that's the kicker. 3 men relaxing and having a drink after a days work. They start to compare scars and it leads to this. Quint's petrifying tale of why he'll never wear a life jacket again. 



It's the little details in the speech that make it. "Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate", "Doll's eyes", "The Hiroshima bomb", "big ol’ fat PBY" and then there's that awed silence from Brody and Hooper during it. Hooper copping the significance of the name straight away and the slight glance he gives Brody during it. The slow subdued haunted delivery from Robert Shaw. Everything about this scene is just perfection. 

4 men are to thank for this scene. The monologue wasn't in the original script but Spielberg felt Quint needed some back story so asked Howard Sackler to write something. He wrote a short outline which was given to John Milius to expand upon. He wrote a 10 page speech that was gold but too long so the actor who had to speak the words, Robert Shaw, cut it down and the rest is history.

God I love it.