The press called him Clean Gene when he ran against the war in Vietnam. The Needle was his nickname on Capitol Hill, in honor of his wicked wit. The poet Robert Lowell declared him, "A One-man Greek Chorus." A friend says, "He is Renaissance Man Super-squared."
He is the late politician and poet, Eugene McCarthy, and he�s the subject of this biographical documentary, �I�m Sorry I was Right�. A half-hour portrait nationally telecast on public television, we follow the career of the former Senator from Minnesota and note his accomplishments with rare archival footage and scenes shot on location from his birthplace in Watkins, Minnesota to his last home in Woodville, Virginia. His poems illumine his character.
Prizes
D.L. Mabery Award/Minnesota's Oscar
Great Plains Film Festival/First Prize
Fargo Film Festival/First Prize
Athens Video Festival/Honorable Mention
Best Film of the Year/City Pages
Praises
"Damn good. It moved, me." - Eugene McCarthy
"Congrats on getting Gene down on tape. Hope it gets seen overseas." - Pete Seeger, folk singer
"What a great title!" - Roger Ebert, film critic
"Yes, a great title, as Roger Ebert says. But more than that, a heartwarming evocation of a gentle, wise, courageous man. I like very much the presentation of his poems. It is a poignant piece of recent history." - Howard Zinn, historian