Tail Gunner Joe

Told in flashback form, Tail Gunner Joe traces the rise and fall of Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy (Peter Boyle). The story begins with McCarthy's judicial career, then progresses to his rise to the U.S. senate on the Republican ticket and his ultimate exploitation of the postwar "anti- ...more

Tail Gunner Joe is among the rare TV biopics that transcends its subject to create a complex portrait of a person and an era. Dominated by Peter Boyle's convincing performance as 1950s Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, Lane Slate's teleplay chronicles the highlights (or lowlights) of a period in United States history when the mere accusation of associating with Communists could tarnish and sometimes blacklist its victims. Boyle helps raise the material above political diatribe, suggesting that ...more