---
name: "John Lee Mahin"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-lee-mahin"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "23 August 1902"
died: "18 April 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 71
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T02:12:38.985062+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Lee Mahin

Writer. Born 23 August 1902 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. Died 18 April 1984.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 23 August 1902, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- **Died:** 18 April 1984
- **Active:** 1935–1951
- **Also known as:** John Lee Mahin Jr.
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 74 (2), 1950s 65 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Romance 2, Adventure 1, Family 1, History 1, Music 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $23m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lee_Mahin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1700810, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536941/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29618

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

John Lee Mahin was an American screenwriter and producer active in Hollywood from the early 1930s to the 1960s. Born on 23 August 1902 in Evanston, Illinois, he attended Harvard University and worked in advertising in New York before entering film through connections with Ben Hecht. He received his first screen credit on Red Dust (1932).

Mahin wrote or co-wrote numerous films, often for MGM and frequently in collaboration with director Victor Fleming. His credits include Scarface (1932), Treasure Island (1934), Naughty Marietta (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Quo Vadis (1951), Mogambo (1953), The Bad Seed (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and The Horse Soldiers (1959). He also contributed to Show Boat (1951). He received Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay for Captains Courageous and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, and was awarded the Screen Writers Guild Laurel Award in 1958. He died on 18 April 1984 in Santa Monica, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Captains Courageous* (1937), Fi1m 84, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/captains-courageous.md)
- *Naughty Marietta* (1935), Fi1m 64, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/naughty-marietta.md)

## Complete filmography (46)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Bad Seed* (2018), Screenplay
- *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), Thanks
- *Moment to Moment* (1966), Screenplay
- *The Spiral Road* (1962), Screenplay
- *North to Alaska* (1960), Screenplay, Producer
- *The Barbarians* (1960), Writer, Producer
- *The Horse Soldiers* (1959), Screenplay, Producer
- *No Time for Sergeants* (1958), Screenplay
- *Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison* (1957), Screenplay
- *The Bad Seed* (1956), Screenplay
- *Lucy Gallant* (1955), Writer
- *Elephant Walk* (1954), Writer
- *Mogambo* (1953), Screenplay
- *My Son John* (1952), Adaptation
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Screenplay — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Show Boat* (1951), Screenplay
- *Panic in the Streets* (1950), Writer
- *Love That Brute* (1950), Writer
- *Down to the Sea in Ships* (1949), Screenplay
- *The Adventures of Tartu* (1943), Screenplay
- *Combat America* (1943), Director
- *Tortilla Flat* (1942), Screenplay
- *Johnny Eager* (1941), Screenplay
- *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1941), Screenplay
- *Boom Town* (1940), Screenplay
- *Too Hot to Handle* (1938), Screenplay
- *The Last Gangster* (1937), Screenplay
- *Captains Courageous* (1937), Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/captains-courageous.md)
- *Love on the Run* (1936), Screenplay
- *The Devil Is a Sissy* (1936), Screenplay
- *Small Town Girl* (1936), Screenplay
- *Wife vs. Secretary* (1936), Screenplay
- *China Seas* (1935), Screenplay
- *Naughty Marietta* (1935), Screenplay — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/naughty-marietta.md)
- *Chained* (1934), Screenplay
- *Treasure Island* (1934), Screenplay
- *Laughing Boy* (1934), Screenplay
- *Eskimo* (1933), Writer
- *The Prizefighter and the Lady* (1933), Screenplay
- *Bombshell* (1933), Screenplay
- *Hell Below* (1933), as Lieut. (JG) 'Speed' Nelson
- *Red Dust* (1932), Screenplay
- *Tiger Shark* (1932), Writer
- *Scarface* (1932), as MacArthur from the Journal (uncredited) · Dialogue, Continuity
- *The Wet Parade* (1932), Writer, Adaptation
- *The Unholy Garden* (1931), Writer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1958: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison*
- 1938: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Captains Courageous*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-lee-mahin