John Meehan

Writing

John Meehan

Born — Died

1884-05-08 — 1954-11-12

Place of birth

Lindsay, Ontario, Canada

Known for

Writing

Credits

19 titles

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).

Known for

Dinner at Eight poster
6.8

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.

Dinner at Eight

1933

The Valley of Decision poster
7.2

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.

The Valley of Decision

1945

Seven Sinners poster
6.0

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.

Seven Sinners

1940

The Prizefighter and the Lady poster
5.5

An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.

The Prizefighter and the Lady

1933

Three Daring Daughters poster
5.9

Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.

Three Daring Daughters

1948

Stage Mother poster
6.3

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.

Stage Mother

1933

Behind the camera

Dinner at Eight poster
6.8

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.

Dinner at Eight

1933

The Valley of Decision poster
7.2

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.

The Valley of Decision

1945

Seven Sinners poster
6.0

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.

Seven Sinners

1940

The Prizefighter and the Lady poster
5.5

An ex-sailor turned boxer finds romance and gets a shot at the heavyweight title.

The Prizefighter and the Lady

1933

Three Daring Daughters poster
5.9

Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.

Three Daring Daughters

1948

Stage Mother poster
6.3

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.

Stage Mother

1933

Boys Town poster
6.8

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.

Boys Town

1938

Kismet poster
5.5

In ancient Baghdad, penniless beggar Hafiz dotes on his beautiful daughter, Marsinah, at home and adopts the dashing and wealthy persona of the Prince of Hassir on the streets. While wooing the glamorous Lady Jamilla, wife of the Grand Vizier, Hafiz accidentally ignites a battle between the treacherous Vizier and the rakish Caliph for his daughter's hand in marriage, in the process exposing each man's secrets.

Kismet

1944

The Painted Veil poster
6.4

The wife of a doctor in China falls in love with a diplomat.

The Painted Veil

1934

Sadie McKee poster
7.0

A maid has romances with a two-timer, a boozing millionaire and the master of the house.

Sadie McKee

1934

Madame X poster
6.1

An alcoholic woman is charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her in court.

Madame X

1937

His Brother's Wife poster
5.8

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.

His Brother's Wife

1936

What Every Woman Knows poster
7.6

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.

What Every Woman Knows

1934

I've Been Around poster
4.0

On their wedding night, the newlywed bride confesses to her husband that she does not love him, but is actually in love with another man. This devastating admission drives her husband into a furious, savage heartbreak. Following their immediate separation, both individuals spiral downward into their own emotional depths, grappling with heartbreak, infidelity, and the toxic lifestyle of high society. Eventually, after enduring significant personal despair and a long period apart, they cross paths again to find true peace, forgiveness, and serenity in each other's arms.

I've Been Around

1935

The Lady Lies poster
5.3

Much to the disapproval of his snooty children, a wealthy widowed attorney takes up with a beautiful but "lower-class" woman.

The Lady Lies

1929

When Ladies Meet poster
5.7

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.

When Ladies Meet

1933

Mrs. Lies poster
9.0

Much to the disapproval of his snooty children, a wealthy widowed attorney takes up with a beautiful but "lower-class" woman. Spanish language version of the 1929 film "The Lady Lies".

Mrs. Lies

1930

Letty Lynton poster
7.0

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.

Letty Lynton

1932

Stardust poster
5.2

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.

Stardust

1938