It was the height of the Depression, and suddenly I am earning pots of money.

MGM boss Louis Mayer originally refused the loan because he considered the role too minor but Rutherford passionately appealed to him to change his mind. Later career
Rutherford was the heroine of a novel Ann Rutherford and the Key to Nightmare Hall (1942 by Katherine Heisenfelt) where "the heroine has the same name and appearance as the famous actress but has no connection.

She had a long career starring and co-starring in films playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the Andy Hardy series and as Scarlett O'Hara's sister in the film Gone with the Wind (1939).