Writing

Charles MacArthur

Born 1895-11-05 · Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA

Charles MacArthur was an American playwright, screenwriter, and journalist, renowned for his collaborations with Ben Hecht. Together, they co-wrote the classic play The Front Page (1928), a satirical look at newspaper reporters that has been adapted multiple times for stage and screen. MacArthur also co-wrote Twentieth Century (1932), a screwball comedy that became a Broadway hit. His work is celebrated for its sharp wit and insightful commentary on American society.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Wuthering Heights poster
7.2

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

Wuthering Heights

1939

Switching Channels poster
6.1

A television news chief courts his anchorwoman ex-wife with an eleventh-hour story.

Switching Channels

1988

Angels with Dirty Faces poster
7.5

Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.

Angels with Dirty Faces

1938

The Front Page poster
6.5

Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

The Front Page

1931

Twentieth Century poster
6.8

A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.

Twentieth Century

1934

Barbary Coast poster
6.4

Mary Rutledge arrives from the east, finds her fiancé dead, and goes to work at the roulette wheel of Luis Chamalis' Bella Donna, a rowdy gambling house in San Francisco in the 1850s. She falls in love with miner Jim Carmichael and takes his gold dust at the wheel. She goes after him, Chamalis goes after her with intent to harm Carmichael.

Barbary Coast

1935

Rasputin and the Empress poster
5.5

The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

Rasputin and the Empress

1932

The Scoundrel poster
6.3

A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless" spirit for being unloved. A heavenly power gives him a month on Earth to find one person to shed a tear for him before his fate is sealed.

The Scoundrel

1935

The Scoundrel poster
6.3

A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless" spirit for being unloved. A heavenly power gives him a month on Earth to find one person to shed a tear for him before his fate is sealed.

The Scoundrel

1935

The Sin of Madelon Claudet poster
5.9

Out of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.

The Sin of Madelon Claudet

1931

Soak the Rich poster
8.0

Tycoon Humphrey Craig is fearful that a "soak the rich" bill will pass in the United States Senate.

Soak the Rich

1936

Soak the Rich poster
8.0

Tycoon Humphrey Craig is fearful that a "soak the rich" bill will pass in the United States Senate.

Soak the Rich

1936

Soak the Rich poster
8.0

Tycoon Humphrey Craig is fearful that a "soak the rich" bill will pass in the United States Senate.

Soak the Rich

1936

The Unholy Garden poster
6.8

At a hotel in the middle of the Sahara, an old man and his daughter try to keep the location of a hidden treasure from a collection of thieves and criminals staying at the hotel who are determined to get it. A suave gentleman thief arrives at the hotel one day with his own plan to get the loot, but complications ensue when he begins to fall for the daughter.

The Unholy Garden

1931

Street of Chance poster
6.8

'Natural' Davis (William Powell) is a respected gambler who follows a ruthless code of honor with those who cheat against him. His wife, Alma (Kay Francis), wants to divorce him because of his addiction and lifestyle, but they agree on a reconciliation and second honeymoon together and 'Natural' promises to give up gambling. However, his plans change when his brother, 'Babe' (Regis Toomey), arrives in town looking to score big, and 'Natural' has to devise a plan quickly to put him off gambling forever.

Street of Chance

1930

The President Vanishes poster
6.0

The President Vanishes, released in the United Kingdom as Strange Conspiracy, is a 1934 American political drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Walter Wanger. Starring Edward Arnold and Arthur Byron, the film is an adaptation of Rex Stout's political novel of the same name.

The President Vanishes

1934

Paid poster
6.7

Mary Turner gets a three year prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she plots to get back at the man responsible for her conviction.

Paid

1930

The Twentieth Century poster
NR

A flamboyant Broadway impresario who has fallen on hard times tries to get his former lover, now a Hollywood diva, to return and resurrect his failing career.

The Twentieth Century

1949

Crime Without Passion poster
5.9

Caddish lawyer Lee Gentry is going out with Katy Costello, but carrying on an affair with dancer Carmen Brown. When he wants to end the dalliance with Carmen, she is so distraught that she becomes suicidal. Seizing the gun from Carmen, he accidentally shoots her, and thinking she's dead, concocts a series of increasingly outlandish alibis to cover his tracks under the guidance of a ghostly apparition that is his alter ego.

Crime Without Passion

1934

Crime Without Passion poster
5.9

Caddish lawyer Lee Gentry is going out with Katy Costello, but carrying on an affair with dancer Carmen Brown. When he wants to end the dalliance with Carmen, she is so distraught that she becomes suicidal. Seizing the gun from Carmen, he accidentally shoots her, and thinking she's dead, concocts a series of increasingly outlandish alibis to cover his tracks under the guidance of a ghostly apparition that is his alter ego.

Crime Without Passion

1934

Crime Without Passion poster
5.9

Caddish lawyer Lee Gentry is going out with Katy Costello, but carrying on an affair with dancer Carmen Brown. When he wants to end the dalliance with Carmen, she is so distraught that she becomes suicidal. Seizing the gun from Carmen, he accidentally shoots her, and thinking she's dead, concocts a series of increasingly outlandish alibis to cover his tracks under the guidance of a ghostly apparition that is his alter ego.

Crime Without Passion

1934

Once in a Blue Moon poster
9.0

A group of Russian nobles fleeing the Bolshevik revolution meet up with a traveling circus. To escape their pursuers, they disguise themselves as members fo the circus troupe.

Once in a Blue Moon

1935

Once in a Blue Moon poster
9.0

A group of Russian nobles fleeing the Bolshevik revolution meet up with a traveling circus. To escape their pursuers, they disguise themselves as members fo the circus troupe.

Once in a Blue Moon

1935

The Girl Said No poster
5.8

A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of Hyams who has turned him down for Bushman. Haines plots dozens of extreme measures to win her over, and finally goes so far as to drag her from the altar, bound and gagged.

The Girl Said No

1930