Her roles for other studios were often far more stimulating than those MGM gave her, including a prominent supporting part in the Irish melodrama "My Son, My Son!" (1940). She also starred in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) with Joel McCrea and the psychological mystery "The Locket" (1946) with Robert Mitchum, Brian Aherne, and Gene Raymond. In 1941, she was voted the number one "star of tomorrow" in Hollywood. That same year, she made her stage debut opposite Gregory Peck in the national theater tour of "Angel Street". She was released from her contract with MGM May 1946, of her own discretion, and signed a contract with RKO in December of that year. The contract stated that she would make one film a year for five years, earning $100,000 per film. Throughout her film career, she was paired opposite major film stars, including Lana Turner, Cary Grant, and John Wayne. In the 1940s, she made guest appearances on radio in both "Lux Radio Theatre" and "The Screen Guild Theater".