# Tail Gunner Joe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tail_Gunner_Joe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tail_Gunner_Joe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tail_Gunner_Joe > Source revision: 1339649875 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1977 television movie dramatizing the life of US Senator Joseph McCarthy For other uses, see [Tailgunner Joe (disambiguation)](/source/Tailgunner_Joe_(disambiguation)). Tail Gunner Joe Genre Biography Drama Written by Lane Slate Directed by Jud Taylor Starring Peter Boyle Burgess Meredith Patricia Neal John Forsythe Ned Beatty Music by Billy May Country of origin United States Original language English Production Producer George Eckstein Cinematography Ric Waite Editor Bernard J. Small Running time 145 min Production company Universal Television Original release Network NBC Release February 6, 1977 (1977-02-06) ***Tail Gunner Joe*** is a 1977 [television movie](/source/Television_movie) dramatizing the life of [U.S. Senator](/source/U.S._Senator) [Joseph R. McCarthy](/source/Joseph_R._McCarthy), a [Wisconsin](/source/Wisconsin) [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) who claimed knowledge of [communist](/source/Communism) infiltration of the [U.S. government](/source/U.S._government) during the 1950s. The film was broadcast on [NBC](/source/NBC). It was nominated for six [Emmy](/source/Emmy) awards and won two: best writing and best supporting actor for [Burgess Meredith](/source/Burgess_Meredith)'s portrayal of attorney [Joseph N. Welch](/source/Joseph_N._Welch). It starred [Peter Boyle](/source/Peter_Boyle) (as McCarthy) and [John Forsythe](/source/John_Forsythe). [Robert F. Simon](/source/Robert_F._Simon) appeared as [journalist](/source/Journalist) [Drew Pearson](/source/Drew_Pearson_(journalist)). 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](/source/Tail_gunner) on American dive bombers during World War II.[1] ## Cast - [Peter Boyle](/source/Peter_Boyle) as Senator [Joseph McCarthy](/source/Joseph_McCarthy) - [Burgess Meredith](/source/Burgess_Meredith) as [Joseph N. Welch](/source/Joseph_N._Welch) - [John Forsythe](/source/John_Forsythe) as Paul Cunningham - [Jean Stapleton](/source/Jean_Stapleton) as Mrs. DeCamp - [Robert F. Simon](/source/Robert_F._Simon) as [Drew Pearson](/source/Drew_Pearson_(journalist)) - [Robert Symonds](/source/Robert_Symonds) as [President Truman](/source/Harry_S._Truman) - [Andrew Duggan](/source/Andrew_Duggan) as [President Eisenhower](/source/Dwight_D._Eisenhower) - [Wesley Addy](/source/Wesley_Addy) as Middleton - [Addison Powell](/source/Addison_Powell) as [General George C. Marshall](/source/George_Marshall) - [William Schallert](/source/William_Schallert) as [General Zwicker](/source/Ralph_Wise_Zwicker) - [Ned Beatty](/source/Ned_Beatty) as Sylvester - [Henry Jones](/source/Henry_Jones_(actor)) as Armitage - [George Wyner](/source/George_Wyner) as [Roy Cohn](/source/Roy_Cohn) - [Philip Abbott](/source/Philip_Abbott) as Senator [Scott W. Lucas](/source/Scott_W._Lucas) - [Patricia Neal](/source/Patricia_Neal) as Senator [Margaret Chase Smith](/source/Margaret_Chase_Smith) - [Howard Hesseman](/source/Howard_Hesseman) as Lt. Ted Cantwell - [John Carradine](/source/John_Carradine) as Wisconsin farmer ## Reception John Carmody wrote in *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*: The story makes the unassailable point that McCarthy, who chased [Communists](/source/Communism) around for years without every [*[sic](/source/Sic)*] 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.[2] From a review by *ModCinema*: *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.[3] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Garraty, John (1989). [*1,001 Things Everyone Should Know About American History*](https://archive.org/details/1001thingseveryo00garr/page/24). New York: Doubleday. p. [24](https://archive.org/details/1001thingseveryo00garr/page/24). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-385-24432-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-385-24432-0). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Carmody, John (February 5, 1977). ["'Tail Gunner Joe': A Look Back in Anger"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/05/tail-gunner-joe-a-look-back-in-anger/ae433847-6961-44ce-812f-cd0c1ff81330). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["TAIL GUNNER JOE (TV) (1977 USA)"](https://modcinema.com/search-product/813-tail-gunner-joe-tv-1977-dvd?s=Peter+Lawford). *ModCinema.com*. Retrieved January 27, 2021. ## External links - [*Tail Gunner Joe*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076794/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [*Tail Gunner Joe*](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/477003/enwp) at the [TCM Movie Database](/source/Turner_Classic_Movies#TCMdb) (archived) v t e Films directed by Jud Taylor Weekend of Terror (1970) Revenge! (1971) Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole (1972) Fade In (1973) Winter Kill (1974) The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974) Search for the Gods (1975) Return to Earth (1976) Tail Gunner Joe (1977) Mary White (1977) Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A. (1977) City in Fear (1980) Act of Love (1980) Packin' It In (1983) License to Kill (1984) Out of the Darkness (1985) Broken Vows (1987) Foxfire (1987) The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988) The Old Man and the Sea (1990) Kaleidoscope (1990) Guinevere (1994) A Holiday to Remember (1995) Clover (1997) This article about a biographical film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Bio-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3ABio-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Bio-film-stub) This article related to an American television drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:US-tv-drama-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUS-tv-drama-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:US-tv-drama-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tail Gunner Joe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tail_Gunner_Joe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tail_Gunner_Joe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.