Biography
Charles Spencer Belden (April 21, 1904 – November 3, 1954) was an American screenwriter and journalist, known for writing screenplays to several Charlie Chan films in the 1930s, notably Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936). His 1932 short story "The Wax Works" served as the basis for the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum. He was married to stage actress Beth Milton in the early 1930s and to actress Joan Marsh who had starred in Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937), from 1938 to 1943. He was born in Mon...
Complete Filmography

House of Wax
2005
Original Film Writer
A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit.

April in Portugal
1956
Writer
Jackie Lane sightsees in Portugal.

House of Wax
1953
Story
A New York sculptor who opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures runs into trouble with his business partner, who de...

Double Deal
1950
Screenplay
An oil engineer surrounded by foul play helps an heiress bring in a well.

Million Dollar Weekend
1948
Writer
A stock broker embezzles a million bucks and plans to take off to Shanghai. A number of obstacles stands in his path, however.

Borrowed Trouble
1948
Screenplay
Finishing a trail drive, Hoppy and the boys head to town and immediately get caught up in the conflict between school teacher Miss Abott and next door...

Silent Conflict
1948
Screenplay
One of Hoppy's Bar 20 ranch hands is tricked into participating in nefarious activities after being subjected to hypnosis.

The Marauders
1947
Screenplay
Hoppy, California and Lucky take refuge from a storm inside a supposedly abandoned church outside a ghost town, only to meet a young woman and her mot...

Beauty and the Bandit
1946
Screenplay
In Old California, a young Frenchman transporting a chest full of silver travels by stagecoach to San Marino, to complete a complex business deal. The...

South of Monterey
1946
Writer
The Cisco Kid (Gilbert Roland) hears of a land-swindling scheme devised by the police Commandante (Martin Garralaga) and the tax collector (Harry Wood...

The Gay Cavalier
1946
Story, Screenplay
The Cisco Kid (Gilbert Roland) sets out on a double mission of rescuing a girl from forsaking her true love by marrying a supposedly wealthy suitor to...

The Strange Mr. Gregory
1945
Screenplay
The title character, played by Edmund Lowe, is a famous magician who fakes his own death -- then reappears as his nonexistent twin brother. It's all p...

Bullet Scars
1942
Writer
Dr. Steven Bishop is taken to the hideout of Frank Dillon and his gang to treat the wounded Joe Madison. Joe's nurse sister Nora Madison is also take...

Tear Gas Squad
1940
Screenplay
A brash night club singer becomes a cop to impress a woman.

On Dress Parade
1939
Writer
The final feature in the "Dead End Kids" film series finds a youth trying to adjust to life at a military school.

Kid Nightingale
1939
Screenplay
A waiter becomes a singing prizefighter.

Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite
1939
Screenplay
Torchy Blane and Steve McBride try to nab a gangster by tracking his moll.

Charlie Chan in Honolulu
1938
Screenplay
While Charlie is distracted with the birth of his first grandchild, son Jimmy impersonates his father in order to investigate a murder aboard a freigh...

Mr. Moto's Gamble
1938
Writer
Celebrated as supersleuth, Mr. Moto comes out fighting when a brutal boxing match turns into cold-blooded murder! Assisted by detective-in-training Le...

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
1937
Writer, Screenplay
Although Charlie and Lee are in Monaco for an art exhibit, they become caught up in a feud between rival financiers which involves the Chan's in a web...

We Have Our Moments
1937
Story
A trio of American crooks board a ship bound for Europe, intending to get rid of $100,000 in stolen dough. With detective John Wade breathing down the...

God's Country and the Woman
1937
Story
Hard-nosed Jefferson Russett runs a logging company; his brother, Steve, is the prodigal son. Steve becomes stranded on the competition's property and...

Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
Writer
A dangerous amnesiac escapes from an asylum, hides in the opera house, and is suspected of getting revenge on those who tried to murder him 13 years a...

Dracula's Daughter
1936
Writers' Assistant
A countess from Transylvania seeks a psychiatrist’s help to cure her vampiric cravings.

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
1936
Dialogue
A young doctor is determined to expose the killer when a surgeon is found stabbed to death in a hospital elevator.

The Widow from Monte Carlo
1935
Writer
In this romantic comedy, an aspiring socialite heads for a vacation in Monte Carlo where she befriends a wealthy widowed duchess and then begins black...

A Shot in the Dark
1935
Screenplay, Adaptation
An amateur sleuth solves three murders at his son's New England college.

Symphony of Living
1935
Writer, Story
Just before Adolph Greig's solo violin performance at the Cosmopolitan Orchestra, his right hand is injured and his dream, shattered. His flighty chil...

Sons of Steel
1934
Writer, Story
Chadburne Steel is run by two brothers, old men. They each have different plans for their sons. Curtis (Holmes Herbert) has put Ronald (William Blakew...

The Ghost Walks
1934
Screenplay
A ghostly and deadly dinner party, which at first turns out to be an elaborate staging of a new play for the benefit of a Broadway producer, becomes ...

The World Accuses
1934
Writer
When a middle aged woman accepts a job at a day care center she comes across the child she gave up early in life.

Port of Lost Dreams
1934
Writer
A gangster's girlfriend on the run from the police, who suspect her of helping her boyfriend commit a robbery, holes up in a waterfront bar. She stows...

Fugitive Road
1934
Screenplay
An Austrian officer must face up to the good and evil aspects of his own personality as he becomes involved in a war.

Fifteen Wives
1934
Screenplay, Story
Shortly after his arrival from South America to New York, Steven Humbolt is found dead in his apartment at the Savoia Hotel. Inspector Decker Dawes in...

Mystery of the Wax Museum
1933
Story
The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.

A Fool's Advice
1932
Screenplay
An elevator operator invents a machine that he believes can help to defeat a corrupt politician in the city's upcoming mayoral election.