Jaws (1975)
Strip away the monster movie scares and the Moby Dick homage and what you have is a story of a New England beach town reeling at the idea of losing its livelihood: tourism on the holiday weekend. While it would be impossible to top Irish actor/playwright Robert Shaw’s scenery-chewing tour-de-force turn as Quint, or Richard Dreyfuss’s star-making portrayal of the hipster-oceanographer Matt Hooper, Murray Hamilton notches a solid third-place prize as the shabby small town mayor (just look at that coat!) who is willing to risk a few shark attacks if it means preserving the town's economy.
