John Lee Mahin
Encyclopedia
John Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter
and producer
. He was the son of John Lee Mahin, Sr. (1869-1930), a Chicago newspaper and advertising man, and Julia Graham Snitzler.
He was active in films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He worked on such films as Scarface
and The Wizard of Oz
, but his name does not appear on the credits to the latter film.
He was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Victor Fleming
. They worked on ten films together.
Mahin also wrote the screenplay for Show Boat
(1951), the Technicolor
remake of the famous 1927 stage musical
, which had previously been filmed in 1936
. According to musical theatre historian Miles Kreuger in his book Show Boat: The History of a Classic American Musical however, Mahin retained most of the basic structure of the storyline, but little of Oscar Hammerstein II
's stage dialogue, preferring to create his own. According to Kreuger, it was Mahin and producer Arthur Freed
who introduced the plot device of keeping the lovers Magnolia Hawks and Gaylord Ravenal young at the end, rather than having them age forty years as in the original stage musical.
He was married to silent film actress Patsy Ruth Miller
from 1937 to 1946.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. He was the son of John Lee Mahin, Sr. (1869-1930), a Chicago newspaper and advertising man, and Julia Graham Snitzler.
He was active in films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He worked on such films as Scarface
Scarface (1932 film)
Scarface is a 1932 American gangster film starring Paul Muni and George Raft, produced by Howard Hughes, directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson, and written by Ben Hecht based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail...
and The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, but his name does not appear on the credits to the latter film.
He was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Victor Fleming
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
. They worked on ten films together.
Mahin also wrote the screenplay for Show Boat
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
(1951), the Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
remake of the famous 1927 stage musical
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, which had previously been filmed in 1936
Show Boat (1936 film)
Show Boat is a 1936 film based on the musical play by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II , which the team adapted from the novel by Edna Ferber....
. According to musical theatre historian Miles Kreuger in his book Show Boat: The History of a Classic American Musical however, Mahin retained most of the basic structure of the storyline, but little of Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
's stage dialogue, preferring to create his own. According to Kreuger, it was Mahin and producer Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
who introduced the plot device of keeping the lovers Magnolia Hawks and Gaylord Ravenal young at the end, rather than having them age forty years as in the original stage musical.
He was married to silent film actress Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller
Patsy Ruth Miller was an American film actress.After being discovered by the actress Alla Nazimova at a Hollywood party, Patsy Ruth Miller got her first break with a small role in Camille, which starred Rudolph Valentino...
from 1937 to 1946.
Filmography - writer's credits
- Moment to MomentMoment to MomentMoment to Moment is a 1966 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy starring Jean Seberg as a married woman who has an affair which leads to murder....
(1965) - The Spiral RoadThe Spiral RoadThe Spiral Road is a 1962 American drama starring Rock Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Burl Ives, Reggie Nalder and Neva Patterson. It was directed by Robert Mulligan with a screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Neil Paterson adapted from the novel by Jan de Hartog. It also featured an early score by composer...
(1962) - North to AlaskaNorth to AlaskaNorth to Alaska is a 1960 comedic western movie directed by Henry Hathaway and John Wayne . It starred Wayne along with Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian and Capucine....
(1960) (screenplay) - The BarbariansRevak the RebelRevak the Rebel is a 1960 film set in Iberia in the days leading up to the outbreak of the Second Punic War...
(1960) - The Horse SoldiersThe Horse SoldiersThe Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
(1959) - No Time for SergeantsNo Time for SergeantsNo Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will...
(1958) - Heaven Knows, Mr. AllisonHeaven Knows, Mr. AllisonHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a 1957 CinemaScope film which tells the story of two people stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II....
(1957) - The Bad SeedThe Bad Seed (film)The Bad Seed is a 1956 American horror-thrillerfilm directed by Mervyn LeRoy. It is based upon a play by Maxwell Anderson, which in turn is based upon William March's 1954 novel The Bad Seed. The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin for the screenplay of the film...
(1956) (screenplay) - Lucy Gallant (1955)
- Elephant WalkElephant WalkElephant Walk is a 1954 Paramount Pictures film, directed by William Dieterle, and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch and Abraham Sofaer....
(1954) - MogamboMogamboMogambo is a 1953 film directed by John Ford, featuring Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Donald Sinden. The film was adapted by John Lee Mahin from the play by Wilson Collison....
(1953) - My Son John (1952) (adaptation)
- Show BoatShow Boat (1951 film)Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
(1951) - Quo VadisQuo Vadis (1951 film)Quo Vadis is a 1951 epic film made by MGM. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien, adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic 1896 novel Quo Vadis. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography...
(1951) - Love That BruteLove That BruteLove That Brute is a 1950 comedy-crime film directed by Alexander Hall. The film is a remake of Tall, Dark and Handsome, a 1941 film also distributed by 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
(1950) - Down to the Sea in ShipsDown to the Sea in ShipsDown to the Sea in Ships is a 1922 American silent film about a 19th century Massachusetts whaling family. Directed by Elmer Clifton, the film stars William Walcott, Marguerite Courtot, and Clara Bow.-Plot:...
(1949) - The Yearling (1946) (uncredited)
- AdventureAdventure (1945 film)Adventure is a 1945 film, based on the novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis. Clark Gable and Greer Garson star as a sailor and a librarian...
(1945) (uncredited) - The Adventures of TartuThe Adventures of TartuThe Adventures of Tartu is a 1943 British Second World War spy film starring Robert Donat.-Plot:...
(1943) - Tortilla FlatTortilla FlatTortilla Flat is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success....
(1942) (screenplay) - Woman of the YearWoman of the YearWoman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....
(1942) (uncredited) - Johnny EagerJohnny EagerJohnny Eager is a 1941 film noir starring Robert Taylor and Lana Turner. Van Heflin won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.The film is featured in the comedy spoof Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid .-Plot:...
(1942) (screenplay) - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1941 horror film starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Rather than being a new film version of the novel, it is a direct remake of the 1931 film of the same name, which differs greatly from the novel. The movie was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's...
(1941) - Boom Town (1940)
- The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
(1939) (uncredited) - Too Hot to HandleToo Hot to Handle (1938 film)Too Hot to Handle is a 1938 film about a newsreel reporter, the aviatrix he is attracted to, and his fierce competitor, played by Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Walter Pidgeon respectively...
(1938) (screenplay) - Test PilotTest Pilot (film)Test Pilot is a 1938 film directed by Victor Fleming and featuring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Lionel Barrymore. The movie tells the story of a daredevil test pilot , his wife , and his best friend...
(1938) (uncredited) - The Last GangsterThe Last GangsterThe Last Gangster is a 1937 crime drama film, directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart and Rose Stradner.-Plot:...
(1937) - Captains Courageous (1937)
- A Star Is BornA Star Is Born (1937 film)A Star Is Born is a 1937 Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by William A. Wellman, with a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. It stars Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March as an aging movie star who...
(1937) (contributing writer) (uncredited) - Love on the RunLove on the Run (1936 film)Love on the Run is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, and Clark Gable in a story about rival newspaper correspondents assigned to cover the marriage of a socialite. The screenplay by Gladys Hurlbut, John Lee Mahin and Manuel Seff was based upon the story by...
(1936) - The Devil is a SissyThe Devil is a SissyThe Devil is a Sissy is a 1936 American MGM comedy drama film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and Rowland Brown. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney.The film premiered on September 18, 1936.-Cast:...
(1936) - Small Town Girl (1936)
- Wife vs. SecretaryWife vs. SecretaryWife vs. Secretary is a comedy film directed and co-produced by Clarence Brown. It stars Clark Gable as a successful businessman, Jean Harlow as his secretary, and Myrna Loy as his wife, supported by May Robson as his mother and James Stewart, in one of his first memorable roles, as the...
(1936) (screenplay) - Riffraff (1936) (contributor to dialogue) (uncredited)
- China Seas (1935) (contributor to screenplay construction) (uncredited)
- Naughty Marietta (1935)
- ChainedChained (1934 film)Chained is a 1934 motion picture directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Otto Kruger. The plot concerns a kept woman who finds herself drawn to a charismatic South American rancher while aboard a cruise, all the while still harboring feelings for her married lover...
(1934) - Treasure IslandTreasure Island (1934 film)Treasure Island is a 1934 movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and...
(1934) (screenplay) - Laughing BoyLaughing BoyLaughing Boy is a 1929 novel by Oliver La Farge about the clash between American culture and that of southwestern Native Americans. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930.-Plot:...
(1934) - EskimoEskimo (film)Eskimo was a 1933 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke. It was the first major studio film made in Alaska, and starred Ray Mala, a half-Inupiat actor, and was one of the first dramatic films to use a nearly all-native cast. In 1934, it received the first Academy Award for Best Film Editing, awarded to...
(1933) - BombshellBombshell (film)Bombshell is a Pre-Code film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone.-Plot:...
(1933) (screenplay) - The Prizefighter and the LadyThe Prizefighter and the LadyThe Prizefighter and the Lady is a 1933 black-and-white MGM crime romance comedy starring Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey, and Walter Huston. It was the film debut for professional boxers Baer and Carnera. Carnera was the world heavyweight boxing champion at the time of the film's...
(1933) - Hell BelowHell BelowHell Below is an MGM film set in the Adriatic during World War I about submarine warfare based on Commander Edward Ellsberg's novel Pigboats, starring Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, Robert Young, Madge Evans, and Jimmy Durante....
(1933) (dialogue) - Red DustRed DustRed Dust is an American 1932 romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming. The picture is the second of six movies Clark Gable and Jean Harlow made together and was produced during the Pre-Code era of Hollywood...
(1932) (screenplay) (as John Mahin) - Tiger SharkTiger Shark (film)Tiger Shark is a 1932 film directed by Howard Hawks. The movie was made the same year as Scarface, which is widely acknowledged to be the director's best film of the early sound era...
(1932) (contributing writer) (uncredited) - ScarfaceScarface (1932 film)Scarface is a 1932 American gangster film starring Paul Muni and George Raft, produced by Howard Hughes, directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson, and written by Ben Hecht based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail...
(1932) (continuity) (dialogue) - The Wet ParadeThe Wet ParadeThe Wet Parade is a 1932 film directed by Victor Fleming based on a 1931 novel by Upton Sinclair, starring Robert Young, Myrna Loy, Walter Huston, and Jimmy Durante....
(1932) (adaptation) (as John L. Mahin) - The Beast of the CityThe Beast of the CityThe Beast of the City is a 1932 pre-Code gangster movie featuring cops as vigilantes and known for its singularly vicious ending. Written by W.R...
(1932) (dialogue continuity) (as John L. Mahin) - The Unholy Garden (1931) (uncredited)