Stardom
Smith co starred opposite Errol Flynn in Gentleman Jim (1942), one of the most popular movies of the year. Her lead appearance in The Constant Nymph (1943) was well-received and led to bigger parts.
After a cameo dancing in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Smith appeared opposite Fredric March in The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), and starred alongside Ann Sheridan in The Doughgirls (1944). She had another cameo in Hollywood Canteen (1944) then co starred with Jack Benny in The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945).
Smith co-starred with Humphrey Bogart in Conflict (1945) and Robert Alda in the George Gershwin biopic Rhapsody In Blue (1945). She liked her part in the latter because "while a heavy of sorts I get to do the unexpected."
She was reunited with Flynn in San Antonio (1945) in which she sang a special version of the popular ballad "Some Sunday Morning"; the movie was a huge hit.
Smith appeared with Sheridan again in One More Tomorrow (1946) then Cary Grant in a sanitized, fictionalized version of the life of Cole and Linda Porter in Night and Day (1946); the latter was another box office success.
Smith appeared alongside Eleanor Parker and Paul Henreid in Of Human Bondage (1946), then did a second film with Bogart, The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947); Hedda Hopper described the latter as "a typical Alexis Smith role". She later said of her Warners years "more often than not I played the other woman."
Smith made Stallion Road (1948) with Ronald Reagan and The Woman in White (1948) with Parker. She was top billed in The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948) which was announced as an attempt to change her image instead of being just "a mirror to reflect others' emotions".
She co starred with Dane Clark in Whiplash (1948), was Joel McCrea's leading lady in South of St. Louis (1949) then worked with Zachary Scott in One Last Fling (1949). MGM borrowed her for a Clark Gable film Any Number Can Play (1950) then she made one last movie with Flynn, Montana (1950).
In October 1949 Smith was granted a release from her contract with Warner Bros after refusing to be loaned out to Universal for a role in Shoplifter (1950) (she was replaced by Andrea King). She had been at the studio for nine years, having signed a four-year deal in 1946 that had the option of going to 1953.
