# Matt Dillon vs. Rooster Cogburn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495 "2012-02-11T02:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/1 "2012-02-11T02:54:43Z")
Duel of the Marshals. My money is on Rooster. Cogburn would shoot Dillon in the back with the Navy Colt, first chance he got. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/2 "2012-02-11T03:05:24Z")
Fixed typo in thread title. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/3 "2012-02-11T03:24:38Z")
Matt Dillon had a vastly better record, so, going on form, Dillon. In a kind of meta-argument, Gunsmoke (both radio and tv) was a bit more of a “fantasy” western than True Grit. Grit was intended to be…well…gritty. Not realistic, exactly, but at least a little more “naturalistic.” Cogburn’s eye-patch shows he’s more vulnerable than Dillon. (Yeah, Dillon was shot in the spine once and nearly paralyzed for life…but he got over it with no remaining symptoms.) Dillon is (to a minor degree) a kind of “superhero.” He is less bound by the laws of nature. Cogburn is not favored by the writers to the same degree. Of course, both being lawmen, there’s no reason for them to fight… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/4 "2012-02-11T03:25:28Z")
Marshall Dillon plays by the rules and is slow and careful (in contrast to Han Solo, in the **Gunsmoke** opening duel, he did not shoot first). Rooster Cogburn made up his own rules. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/5 "2012-02-11T03:27:19Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Of course, both being lawmen, there’s no reason for them to fight… Cogburn once robbed a bank. “I didn’t steal a _person’s_ money…” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/6 "2012-02-11T03:28:20Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Fixed typo in thread title. 🙂 Say what? Er, thanks. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/7 "2012-02-11T03:49:08Z")
Rooster had only one good eye and Dillon was The Thing. Cogburn bites the dust. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/8 "2012-02-11T04:01:22Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Rooster had only one good eye and Dillon was The Thing. Cogburn bites the dust. If you can count [The Thing,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/) I can count the bulldozer from [TheFighting Seabees](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036824/). Dillon is toast. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/9 "2012-02-11T04:03:20Z")
Even though Dillon could be shot and heal almost instantly I’ll give the advantage to Rooster for pure orneriness. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/10 "2012-02-11T14:36:46Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Say what? > > Er, thanks. 😕 There was only one “o” in Rooster. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/11 "2012-02-11T14:58:28Z")
Radio Matt Dillon, especially in the early days of the show when it was still a rather bleak western noir, was a match for Rooster WRT meanness and ruthlessness. Further, he was among the very best of the best at gunplay. This is acknowledged by friend and foe alike. Rooster is no more than competent with a gun. Go to give it to Dillon. Chester, and to a lesser extent Doc (who started off as a deeply cynical greedhead), were necessary to give some lighter elements to the Gunsmoke. Matt was something of a warrior monk in his sobriety and grim focus on his job. Rooster, in the movies anyway, is a drunkard and something of a buffoon. He is his own comic relief. He’d clearly rather spend his days at ease and drinking. Got to give it to Dillon again. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/12 "2012-02-11T22:21:03Z")
Of course, Hopalong Cassidy could beat 'em both at once… He was the best. (Someone said so, in just about every single radio episode!) John Reid (The Lone Ranger) would also beat both Dillon and Cogburn. So would [Lucky Luke](http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/luckyluk.htm)… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-dillon-vs-rooster-cogburn/612495/13 "2012-02-11T22:52:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > My money is on Rooster. > Cogburn would shoot Dillon in the back with the Navy Colt, first chance he got. Agreed. Plus, Dillon was just a TV marshal, not a real movie marshal like Cogburn.