---
name: "Charles MacArthur"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/charles-macarthur"
fi1m_id: "charles-macarthur"
imdb_id: "nm0531269"
tmdb_id: 14824
wikidata_id: "Q983356"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "5 November 1895"
died: "21 April 1956"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-25T02:49:29.949209+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."
---

# Charles MacArthur

## Identity

Charles MacArthur

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/charles-macarthur
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** charles-macarthur
- **IMDb ID:** nm0531269
- **TMDB ID:** 14824
- **Wikidata ID:** Q983356
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_MacArthur, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q983356, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531269/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14824

Writer. Born 5 November 1895 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 21 April 1956.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 5 November 1895, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 21 April 1956
- **Active:** 1938–1974
- **Also known as:** Charles Gordon MacArthur
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 6: 1 acting, 5 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Ben Hecht](https://film.one/person/ben-hecht.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as writer, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 75 (3), 1940s 90 (1), 1960s 82 (1), 1970s 60 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 77 to 73 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Crime 2, Drama 2, Romance 2, Action 1, Adventure 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $20m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_MacArthur, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q983356, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531269/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14824

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Wuthering Heights*](https://film.one/film/wuthering-heights.md) (76)

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

## Biography

Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright, screenwriter and journalist. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he began his career as a reporter in Chicago before moving to New York, where he turned to playwriting.

He is best known for his long collaboration with Ben Hecht. Their plays include *The Front Page* (1928) and *Twentieth Century* (1932). MacArthur and Hecht also wrote screenplays such as *Wuthering Heights* (1939), *Gunga Din* (1939) and *The Scoundrel* (1935), for which they shared an Academy Award for Best Story.

MacArthur was married to actress Helen Hayes from 1928 until his death. He received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of *Wuthering Heights*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

### Performed in (1)

- *Mission: Impossible* (1966), Fi1m 82, Actor — [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md)

### Wrote (5) — the average rests on these

- *The Front Page* (1974), Fi1m 60, Theatre Play — [page](https://film.one/film/the-front-page.md)
- *His Girl Friday* (1940), Fi1m 90, Theatre Play — [page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md)
- *Gunga Din* (1939), Fi1m 68, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/gunga-din.md)
- *Wuthering Heights* (1939), Fi1m 76, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/wuthering-heights.md)
- *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938), Fi1m 82, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/angels-with-dirty-faces.md)

## Complete filmography (36)

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

- *Switching Channels* (1988), Writer
- *The Front Page* (1974), Theatre Play — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-front-page.md)
- *Mission: Impossible* (1966), series, Actor — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md)
- *Billy Rose's Jumbo* (1962), Theatre Play
- *The Adventures of Jim Bowie* (1956), series, Actor
- *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Taylor
- *Perfect Strangers* (1950), Theatre Play
- *The Twentieth Century* (1949), Writer
- *The Front Page* (1948), Writer
- *Lulu Belle* (1948), Theatre Play
- *The Senator Was Indiscreet* (1947), Writer
- *The Front Page* (1945), Writer
- *I Take This Woman* (1940), Story
- *His Girl Friday* (1940), Theatre Play — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md)
- *Wuthering Heights* (1939), Screenplay — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/wuthering-heights.md)
- *Gunga Din* (1939), Story — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/gunga-din.md)
- *Angels with Dirty Faces* (1938), Writer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/angels-with-dirty-faces.md)
- *Soak the Rich* (1936), Producer, Director, Writer
- *Barbary Coast* (1935), Writer
- *Spring Tonic* (1935), Theatre Play
- *Once in a Blue Moon* (1935), Director, Writer
- *The Scoundrel* (1935), as Flop House Bum · Director, Producer, Story
- *The President Vanishes* (1934), Writer
- *Crime Without Passion* (1934), as Second Interviewer (uncredited) · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Twentieth Century* (1934), Screenplay
- *Rasputin and the Empress* (1932), Screenplay
- *The Sin of Madelon Claudet* (1931), Writer
- *The Unholy Garden* (1931), Story, Dialogue, Screenplay
- *New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford* (1931), Adaptation
- *The Front Page* (1931), Writer
- *Love in Every Port* (1931), ADR Coordinator
- *Paid* (1930), Writer, Adaptation
- *Way for a Sailor* (1930), Additional Dialogue
- *Billy the Kid* (1930), Additional Dialogue
- *The Girl Said No* (1930), Writer
- *Street of Chance* (1930), Writer

## Gallery

- ![Charles MacArthur](https://film.one/media/person/7140/gallery-c719a46b34c5.jpg) Charles MacArthur — ACME Newspictures photo (New York)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Charles_MacArthur_%28American_screenwriter%29_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Advertisement stating that Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht had been contracted as screenwriters for RKO Pictures, on pages 10 and 11 of the April 10, 1929 Varie](https://film.one/media/person/7140/gallery-11b6a45fcb9d.jpg) Advertisement stating that Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht had been contracted as screenwriters for RKO Pictures, on pages 10 and 11 of the April 10, 1929 Varie — RKO Distributing Corp., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Charles_MacArthur_%26_Ben_Hecht_-_Apr_1929_Variety.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Writer Charles MacArthur and his wife actress Helen Hayes (1929)](https://film.one/media/person/7140/gallery-a23c90f08728.jpg) Writer Charles MacArthur and his wife actress Helen Hayes (1929) — Edward Steichen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Charles_MacArthur_and_Helen_Hayes_-_Steichen.jpg/1280px-Charles_MacArthur_and_Helen_Hayes_-_Steichen.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Charles MacArthur and Helen Hayes, who were married in 1928](https://film.one/media/person/7140/gallery-ad811abcddeb.jpg) Charles MacArthur and Helen Hayes, who were married in 1928 — Times Wide World Photos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Charles_MacArthur_and_Helen_Hayes_1928.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![American playwright Charles MacArthur](https://film.one/media/person/7140/gallery-42b330ecdac7.jpg) American playwright Charles MacArthur — Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Charles_MacArthur_portrait.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 1940: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Wuthering Heights*
- 1936: Best Story (won), for *The Scoundrel*
- 1934: Best Story (nominated), for *Rasputin and the Empress*

*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/charles-macarthur