John Meehan

Birth : 1884-05-08, Lindsay, Ontario, Canada

Death : 1954-11-12

History

John Meehan, a Canadian-born playwright and screenwriter (initially a stage actor), was a two-time Academy Award Best Writing nominee for The Divorcee (1930) and Boys Town (1938).

Movies

Three Daring Daughters
Screenplay
Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.
The Valley of Decision
Screenplay
Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul's engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers.
Kismet
Screenplay
Hafiz, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.
Seven Sinners
Screenplay
Banished from various U.S. protectorates in the Pacific, a saloon entertainer uses her femme-fatale charms to woo politicians, navy personnel, gangsters, riff-raff, judges and a ship's doctor in order to achieve her aims.
Babes in Arms
Additional Writing
Mickey Moran, son of two vaudeville veterans, decides to put up his own vaudeville show with his girlfriend Patsy Barton. But child actress Rosalie wants to make a comeback and replace Patsy both professionally and as Mickey's girl.
Boys Town
Screenplay
Devout but iron-willed Father Flanagan leads a community called Boys Town, a different sort of juvenile detention facility where, instead of being treated as underage criminals, the boys are shepherded into making themselves better people. But hard-nosed petty thief and pool shark Whitey Marsh, the impulsive and violent younger brother of an imprisoned murderer, might be too much for the good father's tough-love system.
Stardust
Screenplay
Carla de Hulvea is a rumba dancer who makes news by posing as a South-American heiress. She is doing fine with her hoax until she meets American Peter Jackson, a high-pressure promoter who is looking for movie-producing money. He does some big-time bluffing on his own in order to get Carla to invest in a film he is making with his partner, Roy Harley. Through Carla, Roy meets actress Diana West, who is given a role in the movie, and Roy falls in love with her.
Madame X
Screenplay
An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her in court.
His Brother's Wife
Screenplay
Epidemiologist Cliff Claybourne falls in love with Rita Wilson in a gambling house. They want to marry but Cliff's brother is convinced Rita is no good and forces Cliff to fulfill his agreement to do research in Africa in exchange for paying gambling debt. Rita, Cliff and brother are furious with each other, but Rita and Cliff are still in love.
Peter Ibbetson
Additional Writing
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
I've Been Around
Screenplay
Romantic problems of a society girl and an engineer.
I've Been Around
Story
Romantic problems of a society girl and an engineer.
The Painted Veil
Screenplay
The wife of a doctor in China falls in love with a diplomat.
What Every Woman Knows
Screenplay
Aspiring young Scottish politician John Shand enters into an unusual agreement with the wealthy Wylie family -- if they fund his education, he must marry their daughter, Maggie. Staying true to his word, John weds Maggie and begins a successful career, thanks largely to his savvy wife. The couple's relationship is placed in jeopardy when John faces temptation in the form of the lovely aristocrat Lady Sybil Tenterden.
Sadie McKee
Screenplay
A maid has romances with a two-timer, a boozing millionaire and the master of the house.
Dinner at Eight
Writer
An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.
The Prizefighter and the Lady
Screenplay
An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.
Stage Mother
Writer
Kitty Lorraine has one purpose in life: turning her daughter Shirley into a star. Kitty controls every aspect of the girl's nascent career -- even blackmailing a stage manager so that Shirley can take a more prestigious gig. But Kitty goes too far when she breaks up her daughter's budding relationship with sweet artist Warren Foster. Heartbroken, Shirley sets off on a series of disastrous but profitable relationships.
When Ladies Meet
Screenplay
Mary, a writer working on a novel about a love triangle, is attracted to her publisher. Her suitor Jimmy is determined to break them up; he introduces Mary to the publisher's wife without telling Mary who she is.
The Washington Masquerade
Dialogue
An honest, talented and well respected attorney defeats a corrupt incumbent U.S. Senator. After a very good start he has to face the subtle temptations and innocent looking traps of Washington.
Letty Lynton
Writer
Socialite Letty Lynton is returning to New York, abandoning one-time lover Emile Renaul in South America, when she strikes up a shipboard romance with Jerry Darrow. Renault is waiting for her in New York and will not leave her alone, so she poisons him. When detectives take her to the D.A.s office, Jerry cooks up an alibi.
The Phantom of Paris
Dialogue
Chéri-Bibi is a world class escape artist, but he cannot escape the false murder charge that is placed on him.
This Modern Age
Additional Dialogue
A Harvard football star disobeys his upper class parents and runs off with his true love.
Son of India
Additional Dialogue
An Indian jewel merchant goes from penniless to wealthy in this story about gratitude.
The Miracle Woman
Theatre Play
After an unappreciated minister dies, his daughter loses her faith in God, prompting her to open a phony temple with a con man. Can the love of a blind aviator restore her faith and happiness?
A Free Soul
Dialogue
An alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free-spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him.
His girlfriend Annette
Theatre Play
Strangers May Kiss
Dialogue
After years of fighting off the advances of her old flame Steve, Lisbeth settles into a steamy, casual romance with journalist Alan. Against the advice of her happily married aunt Celia -- who encourages her to demand a serious commitment -- Lisbeth continues to see Alan, even after she hears he may have a wife in France. When Alan's work sends him abroad, a lovesick Lisbeth struggles to understand her feelings.
A Lady's Morals
Dialogue
Romantic biography of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind and her famous affairs.
Mrs. Lies
Screenplay
The Divorcee
Dialogue
When a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful to her, she decides to respond to his infidelities in kind.
The Lady Lies
Theatre Play
Much to the disapproval of his snooty children, a wealthy widowed attorney takes up with a beautiful but "lower-class" woman.
The Lady Lies
Screenplay
Much to the disapproval of his snooty children, a wealthy widowed attorney takes up with a beautiful but "lower-class" woman.