John Meehan

Birth : 1902-06-13, Tehachapi, California, USA

Death : 1963-05-15

History

John Meehan was an American screen and television art director. He won three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Set Decoration for the films The Heiress (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).

Movies

The Slowest Gun in the West
Art Direction
The town of Primrose, Arizona is beset by outlaws, so the towns people hire Fletcher Bissell III (A.K.A. The Silver Dollar Kid) as their new sheriff. Fletcher is so cowardly the townsfolk are sure that the local outlaws will be too proud to gun him down. This proves to be the case, and the outlaws hire their own cowardly gunfighter, Chicken Farnsworth, to go up against The Silver Dollar Kid. Written by Jim Beaver
Cult of the Cobra
Art Direction
While stationed in Asia, six American G.I.'s witness the secret ritual of Lamians (worshipers of women who can change into serpents). When discovered by the cult, the High Lamian Priest vows that "the Cobra Goddess will avenge herself". Once back in the United States, a mysterious woman enters into their lives and accidents begin to happen. The shadow of a cobra is seen just before each death.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Art Direction
A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
It Should Happen to You
Art Direction
Gladys Glover has just lost her modeling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete it's love at first sight, but Gladys has her mind on other things, making a name for herself. Through a fluke of advertising she winds up with her name plastered over 10 billboards throughout city.
Salome
Art Direction
In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...
Assignment: Paris
Art Direction
Paris-based New York Herald Tribune reporter Jimmy Race (Andrews) is sent by his boss (Sanders) behind the Iron Curtain in Budapest to investigate a meeting involving the Hungarian ambassador.
The Marrying Kind
Art Direction
Florence and Chet Keefer have had a troublesome marriage. Whilst in the middle of a divorce hearing the judge encourages them to remember the good times they have had hoping that the marriage can be saved.
Tarzan's Peril
Art Direction
Escaped convicts are selling weapons to a warlike native tribe.
Sunset Boulevard
Art Direction
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
The Heiress
Art Direction
Dull and plain Catherine lives with her emotionally distant father, Dr. Sloper, in 1840s New York. Her days are empty — filled with little more than needlepoint. Enter handsome Morris Townsend, a dashing social climber with his eye on the spinster's heart and substantial inheritance.
Sealed Verdict
Art Direction
John Hoyt plays a high-ranking Nazi being prosecuted by an army tribunal in the aftermath of World War II. Sentenced to death, the general appeals to the American investigating Major (Ray Milland), claiming mitigating circumstances, and providing the names of witnesses who will clear his name. This sends the Major in a search through the ruins of post-war Germany to determine the degree of the general's guilt.
Suddenly It's Spring
Art Direction
A WAC officer returns from the war to find her husband wants a divorce.
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Art Direction
Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.
The Bride Wore Boots
Art Direction
Rich and beautiful Southern heiress Sally Warren loves horse-racing and running her horse-farm although her husband of seven years hates the four-legged mammals. Spouse Jeff Warren is a successful author, Civil War scholar, and popular lecturer on the ladies club circuit. After Jeff buys aging twelve-year old nag Albert in the mistaken belief that he's a colt and Sally purchases a desk for her husband in the naive belief that it once belonged to Jefferson Davis, it's obvious that they have few interests in common. The squabbling is complicated by Jeff's jealousy of Sally's relationship with Lance Gale, her childhood friend, neighbor, and fellow horse breeder.
The Virginian
Art Direction
Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life.
Bring on the Girls
Art Direction
A millionaire joins the Navy hoping to find a girl who'll marry him for himself, not for his money. A beautiful gold-digger who works at a resort hotel sets out to get him.
The Miracle Woman
Screenplay
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?