A Times Union advertisement from 1975 touts showings of "Jaws" at Hellman's Towne Theatre.

Mike Frank, 72, of Glenville, holds a black-and-white photo contact sheet of the special "Jaws" silhouette marquee of Hellman's Towne Theatre in Latham he photographed as a freelancer in 1975 as proof of the added expense for operator United Artists. (Paul Grondahl / For the Times Union)

Opening of Cinerama at Hellman's Theatre in Albany. Shown above on March 22, 1961, is Ann Ward, assistant director of special services at Hellman Theatre; B.G. Kranze, vice president of Cinerama Inc.; Edith Marx Hellman and her husband, Hellman, the owners of Hellman Enterprises.

Hellman's Towne Theater in Colonie closed in the 1980s, but the 50th anniversary of the release of "Jaws" is fueling nostalgia for the long-gone cinema chain and the summer of 1975 when people piled into the theater to see the original summer blockbuster. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union Archive)

The Hellman Theater sign in disarray awaits closing on April 30, 1989. Dustin Hoffman's hit "Rain Man," which was released the previous year, can still be seen on the marquee.

Neil Hellman in front of his new school at Parson's Child and Family Center on October 16, 1984 in Albany.

COLONIE — In June 1975, as the summer blockbuster “Jaws” was preparing to make its bloody splash on the big screen, Neil Hellman, the movie theater impresario, had an overriding notion: We’re gonna need bigger marquee visuals.

Two guys from Cohoes, buddies since middle school, played a minor footnote in the runaway success of director Steven Spielberg’s tale of terror of a great white shark attacking swimmers in the small coastal town of Amity as throngs of visitors pack the beach at the peak of tourist season.

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Adapted from Peter Benchley’s 1974 best-selling novel of the same name, the suspenseful story centered on a crusty old shark hunter (played by Robert Shaw), marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and........

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