John Lee Mahin

Screenwriter

About

Also Known As

John Mahin, John L. Mahin

Birth Place

Evanston, Illinois, USA

Died

April 18, 1984

Cause of Death

Emphysema

Biography

Veteran Hollywood writer, mostly at MGM; instrumental in the formation of the Writers Guild....

Filmography

Hell Below (1933)

Lieut. (JG) "Speed" Nelson

Moment to Moment (1966)

Screenwriter

The Spiral Road (1962)

Screenwriter

North to Alaska (1960)

Screenwriter

The Horse Soldiers (1959)

Written for Screen by

No Time for Sergeants (1958)

Screenwriter

Photos & Videos

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Horse Soldiers, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Quite Enough of Both

Wet Parade, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) A Menacing Group Of Bluenose Puritans

Family & Companions

Patsy Ruth Miller

Wife

Actor. Divorced.

Biography

Veteran Hollywood writer, mostly at MGM; instrumental in the formation of the Writers Guild.

Filmography

Life Events

1931

Co-wrote first screenplay (uncredited), "The Unhol;y Garden"

1932

Signed with MGM

1932

First screenplay credit, "Scarface"

1933

Only acting role, bit part in "Hell Below"

1959

Only producing credit, "The Horse Soldiers" (also screenplay)

1966

Last film, "Moment to Moment"

Videos

Horse Soldiers, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Quite Enough of Both Southerner Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers) entertains Union officers Marlowe (John Wayne), Secord (Willis Bouchey), Gray (William Leslie) and Kendall (William Holden) in John Ford's The Horse Soldiers, 1959.

Wet Parade, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) A Menacing Group Of Bluenose Puritans New York 1916, the presidential election looming, boozy hotelier "Pow" Tarleton (Walter Huston) speaks for Woodrow Wilson, as a less impressive campaigner (Clarence Wilson) supports Charles Evans Hughes, in Victor Fleming's The Wet Parade, 1932, from the Upton Sinclair novel.

Wet Parade, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Four Years More! Election day 1916, Southern author Roger (Neil Hamilton) arrives in New York, greeted by Democrats "Pow" Tarleton (Walter Huston), his son Kip (Robert Young) and newsman friend Jerry (Wallace Ford), when surprising news arrives from California, in The Wet Parade, 1932.

Wet Parade, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Just A Low Down Cowardly Drunkard Increasingly dissolute Southern patriarch Chilcote (Lewis Stone) resists when daughter Maggie (Dorothy Jordan) snatches him from the saloon, early in Victor Fleming's The Wet Parade, 1932, from an Upton Sinclair novel.

Mogambo (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Let Me Jump To My Own Conclusions! A good deal less bawdy than the equivalent Jean Harlow scene with the same leading man in the original (pre-Code) Red Dust, still alluring "Honey Bear" (Ava Gardner) in the shower meets angered safari guide Marswell (Clark Gable) early in John Ford's re-make, Mogambo, 1953.

Eskimo (1933) -- (Movie Clip) A Strange Primeval Creed Opening from MGM and W.S. Van Dyke, a prologue playing on the director’s success with earlier exotic features (White Shadows In The South Seas, 1928, and Trader Horn, 1931), including an untrue claim about casting, but a graceful enough introduction of his leads, Ray Wise (here known as Ray “Mala,” his character’s name) and Lulu Wong Wing his wife, in Eskimo, 1933.

Eskimo (1933) -- (Movie Clip) One Has Been Wifeless Long? Probably horrible but a significant plot point, Alaskan-born Ray Wise, who became known as Ray “Mala,” the name of his character in this picture, meets a fellow hunter who’s lost his wife, and graciously offers his own (Lulu Wong Wing as Aba), everyone en route to meet the white-man’s ship, W.S. Van Dyke directing on location in Northern Alaska, in Eskimo, 1933.

Quo Vadis (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Appian Way Who better than MGM stalwart Walter Pidgeon to narrate, the opening scenes detailing the grandeur and moment of Quo Vadis, 1951, starring Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov.

Johnny Eager (1942) -- (Movie Clip) High And Handsome Opening scene, Robert Taylor (title character), evidently a cabbie, drops in on his parole officer Verne (Henry O'Neill), his aide Miss Mines (Leona Maricle) not interested, but visiting students (Diana Lewis, Lana Turner) are, in Mervyn LeRoy's Johny Eager, 1943.

Johnny Eager (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Things Like Crime Racketeer Robert Taylor (title character) with second-cousins Matilda (Robin Raymond) and Peg (Connie Gilchrist), who are alibis for his parole officer Verne (Henry O'Neill), who drops in unannounced with students Judy (Diana Lewis) and Lisbeth (Lana Turner), early in Johnny Eager, 1943.

Johnny Eager (1942) -- (Movie Clip) A Modern Boswell Paroled Robert Taylor (title character), still in the rackets but posing as a cabbie, walks in on girlfriend Garnet (Patricia Dane) and dipsomaniac sidekick Jeff (Van Heflin, his first scene) in Mervyn LeRoy's Johnny Eager, 1942.

Laughing Boy (1934) -- (Movie Clip) It Is White Man's Way Family-oriented young Navajo (Ramon Novarro, title character) is more virtuous than his new fianceè “Slim Girl” (Lupe Velez), whom he’s bringing home to meet his folks after meeting her at a cosmopolitan tribal gathering in the southern part of the reservation, in MGM’s Laughing Boy, 1934.

No Time for Sergeants - (Original Trailer) Hillbilly draftee Andy Griffith turns the Air Force upside down in No Time For Sergeants (1958).

Last Gangster, The - (Original Trailer) When a notorious gangster (Edward G. Robinson) gets out of prison, he vows revenge on the wife who left him. Also starring James Stewart.

Scarface (1932) - (1979 Re-issue Trailer) Al Pacino got nothin' on Paul Muni, see, as the original Scarface (1932) directed by Howard Hawks, produced by Howard Hughes.

Adventures of Tartu, The - (Original Trailer) An undercover agent (Robert Donat) battles Nazis to save an aviation plant in The Adventures of Tartu (1943).

Tortilla Flat - (Original Trailer) Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield star in Tortilla Flat (1942), based on the novel by John Steinbeck.

Quo Vadis (1951) - (Original Trailer) A Roman commander falls for a Christian slave girl as Nero intensifies persecution of the new religion in Quo Vadis (1951) starring Robert Taylor.

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison - (Original Trailer) A marine (Robert Mitchum) and a nun (Deborah Kerr) are shipwrecked on a Pacific Island in John Huston's Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957).

Captains Courageous - (Re-issue Trailer) A spoiled rich kid is lost at sea and rescued by a fishing boat, where hard work and responsibility help him become a man.

Boom Town - (Re-issue Trailer) Friends become rivals when they strike it rich in oil in Boom Town (1940), starring Clark Gable & Spencer Tracy.

Naughty Marietta - (Re-issue trailer) A French princess in colonial America gets involved with an Indian scout in the musical, Naughty Marietta (1935).

Laughing Boy - (Original Trailer) A young Navajo (Ramon Novarro) defies tribal custom to marry an outcast (Lupe Velez) in Laughing Boy (1934).

Johnny Eager - (Re-issue Trailer) A handsome racketeer (Robert Taylor) seduces the District Attorney's daughter (Lana Turner) for revenge in Johnny Eager (1942), directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

No Time For Sergeants (1958) -- (Movie Promo) The Essentials Promo for No Time For Sergeants, 1958, on TCM's The Essentials, hosted by Alec Baldiwn, with special guest David Letterman, this Saturday, May 27 at 8pm ET.

Companions

Patsy Ruth Miller

Wife

Actor. Divorced.

About

Biography

Filmography

Photos & Videos

Family & Companions

Biography

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

Writer (Feature Film)

Producer (Feature Film)

Music (Feature Film)

Producer (Special)

Life Events

1931

1932

1932

1933

1959

1966

Videos

Movie Clip

Trailer

Promo

Companions

Bibliography

TCM Emails