In 1939, Patrick won Samuel Goldwyn's "Gateway to Hollywood" talent-search contest. With a movie contract in hand, she moved to Hollywood with her mother and young son to live in Culver City, California and work at nearby MGM studios. Patrick trained at the studio's repertory workshop and first appeared as a Goldwyn Girl in "Up in Arms" starring Danny Kaye (1944). Her most noted MGM appearance was opposite Robert Walker in the Jerome Kern musical showcase "Till the Clouds Roll By" (1946).