When MoCoShow reader Igor Gindin was perusing old articles from The Washington Post, he came across a story highlighting Rambo’s trip to Montgomery Village. The story may not be as farfetched as it seems, due to Rambo star Sylvester Stallone growing up in Montgomery County, but it’s not exactly what you’d think…

It was July of 1985, and Rambo: First Blood Part II had been released just two months earlier. The movie was now playing at Roth’s Quince Orchard Theater in Gaithersburg. Roth’s was a small theater- the box office was on the outside and there were two theaters when you walked in (one on the left and one on the right). It ended up closing in 1990 when the theaters opened at nearby Rio Washingtonian.

On Thursday, July 18th, between 1 and 2:30 am, two burglars stole a reel containing a portion of the movie from the Gaithersburg theater.  The burglars, which included a former assistant manager at the theater, also cut out a four foot section from the center of the screen, stole $20 worth of candy, and took the marquee letters and a poster for “Back to the Future.”

According to the article, the two suspects were arrested shortly after the burglary and led police to the spot where they discarded the reel…Lake Whetstone in Montgomery Village. “Fire department officials were then called in to rescue the film from eight feet of water — but it was too late to save Rambo.” “Rambo is all wet,” Montgomery County police spokesman Phil Caswell joked.

The screen was repaired the next day, and a new copy of Rambo came in, allowing business to resume as usual. The movie stars Sylvester Stallone, perhaps Montgomery County’s most famous past resident. Stallone and his family lived in a home on Seminary Road from 1952-1962. While living there, Sylvester spent some of his attended Woodlin Elementary School, Montgomery Hills Junior High, and was enrolled at Blair High School.