RAMBO David Morrell (Above Left), Author of First
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FIRST BLOOD | BY STEVE SHACKLEFORD THE MAN WHO CREATED RAMBO David Morrell (above left), author of First Blood, and Sylvester Stallone share thoughts 45 YEARS LATER, DAVID MORRELL CONTINUES on the set of Rambo III near Eilat, Israel. TO REAP THE REWARDS OF HIS INVENTION (image courtesy of Carolco Pictures) novel by David Morrell, First that was adapted into a TV mini-series a series of events that were part planned, A Blood inspired the most famous for NBC and has the distinction of being part happenstance and most all good for- knife in modern history, created the only mini-series to immediately fol- tune for the principals involved. one of the world’s most recognized char- low the telecast of a Super Bowl—none acters, has never been out of print in its have had the impact of First Blood. RAMBO GENESIS 45-year existence and has been translated As the Rambo phenomenon celebrates Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Mor- into 30 languages. its 35th anniversary, it is almost impossi- rell came to America to study literature at Not bad for a writer’s fi rst book, eh? ble to pinpoint exactly what transformed Penn State in 1966 near the height of the Morrell, 74, has enjoyed a stellar career the knife, the book—which just so hap- Vietnam War, and the student unrest and as an author, penning a number of fi ction pens is celebrating its 45th anniversary in riots that, as Morrell recalls, seemed to and non-fi ction action books and series 2017 as well—and the Rambo character have the nation on the brink of a civil war. of books that have brought him interna- into such a collective smash global hit. In 1968 Morrell taught a fi rst-year writing tional renown. However, as entertaining And perhaps therein lies the secret: it was class of students that included returning as his other books have been—including no one specifi c idea or occurrence that Vietnam vets, a number of whom showed one series, Th e Brotherhood of the Rose, captured the imagination of so many but the classic symptoms of the then-un- 36 BLADE JANUARY 2018 36-DAVID MORELL.indd 36 11/28/17 2:15 PM A STAR is BORN Ironically, there is no knife in Morrell’s First Blood. “Sylvester, who is very good at knowing he has to do something in front of the camera besides deliver dia- logue, thought quickly that [the character of Rambo] should have a prop,” Morrell said. And so the Rambo knife was born (page 12). What was Morrell’s reaction? “I was delighted,” he noted. “My inter- est in knives dates back to Th e Iron Mis- tress in the Alan Ladd movie about Jim Bowie made by Warner Bros. in the early 1950s. Th e fi rst time I saw that movie I was a kid and the knife in it absolutely as- tonished me—and I’m not the only one. I know Gil Hibben [the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member who made the knives for the third and fourth Rambo movies] talks about the infl uence Exclusively for David Morrell, Jimmy Lile stamped “Author’s Copy” on these original First that movie had on him in terms of being a Blood (bottom, with sheath and sharpener and unscrewed buttcap with compass), and Mis- maker [as it did so many other makers of sion (second from top) knives. At top is Lile’s Rambo Stiletto. (from the David Morrell collec- Hibben’s generation], so I always had an tion; image courtesy of David Morrell) interest in knives in the movies. It disap- points me that it never occurred to me to heard-of post-traumatic stress syndrome, Stallone’s name surfaced for the part of put one in the novel.” and were struggling to adapt to civilian John Rambo. “Stallone had not had a hit One reason Morrell said the knife life. Th e two factions—student protesters in anything other than Rocky,” Morrell wouldn’t have worked in the novel is be- and returning war veterans—along with recalled, “so this was a big deal for him to cause when Rambo breaks out of jail and the older authority fi gures with whom the have a hit with another character.” escapes on a motorcycle, he’s stark na- 18-to-20-somethings butted heads in the ked—not exactly the best circumstances middle of the generation gap of the ’60s, gave Morrell an idea for a novel. “I was reminded of Audie Murphy, America’s most decorated soldier of World War II, who had similar problems returning from the war, and it suddenly occurred to me what if the person I was going to write about was truly exception- al as Murphy was, and came back from the war hating himself, and how would he have reacted if a police offi cer started has- sling him because he didn’t like the way he looked?” Morrell said. “Since Murphy had such a capacity for anger, I could imagine how as Rambo he would’ve re- acted.” It took Morrell about three years to write the book by 1971, but only six weeks for a hardback-book publisher to accept it—an unusually quick turnaround back then, he noted. It was reviewed widely and favorably by the major magazines of the day, sold to a paperback company and then a fi lm company—Columbia Since it was fi rst published as a hardback book in 1972, First Blood has never been out of print and has been translated into 30 languages, a number of which are represented here. See Pictures. However, Carolco eventually if you can guess which is the original cover. The answer appears at the end of the story. (image acquired the movie rights and Sylvester courtesy of David Morrell) JANUARY 2018 blademag.com 37 36-DAVID MORELL.indd 37 11/28/17 2:15 PM FIRST BLOOD | in which to carry a big knife. “I suppose I could’ve had Rambo fi nd someone up in the mountains and take a knife from them but it never crossed my mind,” Morrell said. “It’s one of those ironies be- tween books and the movies.” Stallone became well versed with the custom knife scene (page 22) and chose Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame member Jimmy Lile to make the knife for the fi rst and then the second Rambo movies. More- over, Morrell wrote the “novelization” for the second Rambo movie—the nov- elization spent six weeks on the New York Though they had corresponded by phone Times bestseller list—and contacted Lile and mail before, David Morrell and Gil for information about the second movie Hibben (left) did not meet in person until knife for the novelization. the 2003 BLADE Show in Atlanta, where David received the BLADE Magazine 2003 “First of all, anyone who ever talked to Industry Achievement Award. Jimmy Lile, aft er two minutes you had an Arkansas accent,” Morrell laughed. “I wanted to get a whole lot more stuff in the novelization than was in the movie and one of the things I wanted to do was make up for the fact that I hadn’t had a knife in First Blood, but by God there sure was a knife in the second movie, and I really wanted to go with that knife so everybody would know how unique and beautiful it was. And so Jimmy In another exclusive for David Morrell, Gil and I talked and he told me a little about Hibben stamped “Author’s Copy” on these the history of the knife and what he had original Rambo III and Rambo IV (top) knives. In the middle is a Rambo dagger in mind and all this shows up in the nov- Hibben made for the third movie. (from the elization. It’s been since the early 1980s David Morrell collection; image courtesy of and I can still hear that Arkansas twang.” David Morrell) Lile made only 100 of the original Rambo knives for each of the fi rst and RAMBO AFTERMATH second movies, and made one separate Rambo created a big knife fan in Mor- from each of those limited runs marked rell—so much so that he subsequently “Author’s Copy” for Morrell as gift s. wrote two novels, Th e Protector and Th e Aft er Lile, Stallone chose Hibben to Naked Edge—with knives as a main fo- make the knives for the third and fourth cus, including Ernest Emerson’s CQC- Rambo movies. As Morrell noted, Hibben 7B as the cover knife for Th e Protector, was experiencing diffi culty making ends and Hibben’s repro of an 1865 Michael meet as a knifemaker at the time, and Price dress bowie as the cover knife for had decided to make a “last-ditch stand” Th e Naked Edge. (Author’s note: I remain at the California Custom Knife Show in deeply humbled and honored that Mor- Anaheim in 1984 when in walked Stal- rell includes a fi ctitious appearance by me lone (page 12). He bought several knives as editor of BLADE®, among other knife on Hibben’s table and later commissioned personages, in Th e Naked Edge.) him to do the knives for the third Rambo In 2003, Morrell was invited to the movie. It basically turned Hibben’s knife- BLADE Show, where not only did he join making career around. Hibben also made Hibben for a seminar on the Rambo phe- the knife for the fourth Rambo movie, as nomenon, but he also was presented with well as versions from each fi lm marked the BLADE Magazine Industry Achieve- “Author’s Copy” for Morrell, just as Lile ment Award for writing the book that had done.