Ep 23 Book to Movie: First Blood by David Morrell

David Morrell was teaching creative writing at University when he published his first novel, First Blood, in 1972. He based the novel on stories he heard from some of his students who had returned from the Vietnam War and were experiencing what we now call “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” He also borrowed some of the structure of the novel from Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male.

The result was a classic action thriller that featured a highly skilled Green Beret against a Korean War vet turned sheriff of a small Kentucky town. Their feud would escalate to extremes leaving many people dead and the town destroyed.

The novel bounced around in Hollywood for 10 years until Sylvester Stallone came on board. His box office clout finally got the film made. Stallone made major changes to the lead character (Rambo) making him much more sympathetic. This approach succeeded wildly with the public, and Stallone went on to make several sequels, all making a profit.

In this Ep 23 of the Paperback Show podcast, Matt Kelland and I examine the difference between the First Blood novel and film. We also look at the background of both and how their differing stories impacted American culture.

SHOW NOTES

Much of this podcast was based on interviews given by David Morrell and on information provided by the IMDB. The Wikipedia has a good entry on the novel First Blood as well. I also recommend a great post at the Action Elite site which compares the book to the movie.

SPECIAL GUEST MATT KELLAND

I’ve known Matt for over twenty years. Originally from Britain, he moved to Florida in 2009, and now lives on a hill in a forest in Maine. Matt’s been involved with all sorts of creative endeavors for almost forty years: video games, animation, music, art, and writing. Last year, after getting laid off, he decided it was time to start focusing on his own creative work, and published his first
collection of short fiction, Nothing To See Here.