Tail Gunner Joe

{{Short description|1977 television movie dramatizing the life of US Senator Joseph McCarthy}} {{other uses|Tailgunner Joe (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = Tail Gunner Joe 1977.jpg | image_size = | caption = | genre = Biography Drama | director = [[Jud Taylor]] | executive_producer = | producer = [[George Eckstein]] | writer = Lane Slate | narrator = | starring = [[Peter Boyle]] [[Burgess Meredith]] [[Patricia Neal]] [[John Forsythe]] [[Ned Beatty]] | music = [[Billy May]] | cinematography = [[Ric Waite]] | editor = Bernard J. Small | location = | company = [[Universal Television]] | network = [[NBC]] | released = {{Start date|1977|02|06}} | runtime = 145 min | country = United States | language = English | budget = }}

'''''Tail Gunner Joe''''' is a 1977 [[television movie]] dramatizing the life of [[U.S. Senator]] [[Joseph R. McCarthy]], a [[Wisconsin]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] who claimed knowledge of [[Communism|communist]] infiltration of the [[U.S. government]] during the 1950s. The film was broadcast on [[NBC]]. It was nominated for six [[Emmy]] awards and won two: best writing and best supporting actor for [[Burgess Meredith]]'s portrayal of attorney [[Joseph N. Welch]]. It starred [[Peter Boyle]] (as McCarthy) and [[John Forsythe]]. [[Robert F. Simon]] appeared as [[journalist]] [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]].

The nickname 'Tail Gunner Joe' is a derisive term for the Senator that originated from his exaggerated claims of the number of times flying as a [[tail gunner]] on American dive bombers during World War II.<ref>{{cite book |title=1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History |last=Garraty |first=John |year=1989 |publisher=Doubleday |location=New York |isbn=0-385-24432-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/1001thingseveryo00garr/page/24 24] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/1001thingseveryo00garr/page/24 }}</ref>

==Cast== *[[Peter Boyle]] as Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] *[[Burgess Meredith]] as [[Joseph N. Welch]] *[[John Forsythe]] as Paul Cunningham *[[Jean Stapleton]] as Mrs. DeCamp *[[Robert F. Simon]] as [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]] *[[Robert Symonds]] as [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman]] *[[Andrew Duggan]] as [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] *[[Wesley Addy]] as Middleton *[[Addison Powell]] as [[George Marshall|General George C. Marshall]] *[[William Schallert]] as [[Ralph Wise Zwicker|General Zwicker]] *[[Ned Beatty]] as Sylvester *[[Henry Jones (actor)|Henry Jones]] as Armitage *[[George Wyner]] as [[Roy Cohn]] *[[Philip Abbott]] as Senator [[Scott W. Lucas]] *[[Patricia Neal]] as Senator [[Margaret Chase Smith]] *[[Howard Hesseman]] as Lt. Ted Cantwell *[[John Carradine]] as Wisconsin farmer

==Reception== John Carmody wrote in ''[[The Washington Post]]'':<blockquote>The story makes the unassailable point that McCarthy, who chased [[Communism|Communists]] around for years without {{sic|every}} actually catching one, wouldn't have been "successful" if the media and a lot of politicians, including President Truman and Eisenhower, hadn't tolerated him.There is a certain hand-wringing quality to some of the narration Sunday night (scriptwriters long to be on the side of the angels, too) and there is a little side-stepping when it comes to explaining the sources of McCarthy's political strengths, such as they were.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/05/tail-gunner-joe-a-look-back-in-anger/ae433847-6961-44ce-812f-cd0c1ff81330|title='Tail Gunner Joe': A Look Back in Anger|author=Carmody, John|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 5, 1977}}</ref></blockquote>

From a review by ''ModCinema'':<blockquote>''Tail Gunner Joe'' is in its own way as biased and unfair as any of Joe McCarthy's diatribes but this made-for-TV movie works as a brisk, entertaining recollection of an era in which "guilt by association" was a byword. As Joe McCarthy, Peter Boyle's performance is so convincing that it borders on the supernatural.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://modcinema.com/search-product/813-tail-gunner-joe-tv-1977-dvd?s=Peter+Lawford|website=ModCinema.com|title=TAIL GUNNER JOE (TV) (1977 USA)|access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref></blockquote>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|076794|Tail Gunner Joe}} * {{TCMDb title|477003|Tail Gunner Joe}}

[[Category:1977 films]] [[Category:1977 television films]] [[Category:1977 American films]] [[Category:American biographical films]] [[Category:Films about McCarthyism]] [[Category:Universal Pictures films]] [[Category:Emmy Award–winning programs]] [[Category:NBC original films]] [[Category:Films directed by Jud Taylor]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Joseph McCarthy]] [[Category:Films about Richard Nixon]] [[Category:Films set in the 1950s]] [[Category:American drama television films]]