close to the police station. Trautman, understanding that the sheriff is outmatched, tries again to convince Teasle to leave Rambo be. The sheriff ignores his orders and attempts to locate and kill Rambo. Rambo spots Teasle on the police station's roof, and shoots him. Teasle falls through a skylight. As Rambo prepares to kill him, Trautman appears and warns Rambo that he will be killed unless he surrenders, reminding him that he is the last survivor of his elite unit of Green Berets. Rambo vents about the horrors of war and his traumatic experiences: watching his friends die in Vietnam, being unable to hold a job due to his PTSD, the nasty treatment he received from his fellow Americans when he came home, and being forgotten by the country that he sacrificed so much for. He breaks down crying as he recounts how one comrade was killed by a Vietcong child soldier using a shoeshine box wired with explosives. After being comforted by Trautman, Rambo surrenders and is taken into federal custody, while Teasle is taken to a waiting ambulance for transport to the hospital. Cast Sylvester Stallone as John J. Rambo Richard Crenna as Colonel Samuel R. "Sam" Trautman Brian Dennehy as Sheriff William "Will" Teasle Bill McKinney as Captain Dave Kern Jack Starrett as Deputy Sergeant Arthur "Art" Galt Michael Talbott as Deputy Balford Chris Mulkey as Deputy Ward John McLiam as Orval Kellerman Alf Humphreys as Deputy Lester David Caruso as Deputy Mitch Rogers David L. Crowley as Deputy Shingleton Don MacKay as Deputy Preston Patrick Stack as Lieutenant Clinton Morgen Production Development In 1972, Lawrence Turman at Columbia Pictures bought the film rights to First Blood for $175,000. Richard Brooks was slated to direct, and intended to have the film be an allegory on differing American perceptions of World War II and Vietnam War veterans, with Sheriff Teasle portrayed more sympathetically than in the novel. The film would have ended with Teasle ordering his men to drop their guns to try to reason with Rambo, who would have then been fatally shot by an unknown assailant. Brooks planned to start shooting First Blood in New Mexico in December 1972. The film did not proceed because the Vietnam War was still underway and Brooks left the project. Afterward, John Calley purchased the rights at Warner Bros. Pictures for $125,000 with the thought of casting either Robert De