She was not critically acclaimed until she starred in René Clair's Le Million (1931), and over the following decade, she established herself as one of France's popular cinema actresses.

She refused to leave Power, and on completion of Suez, she returned to France to obtain a divorce from her then-husband Jean Murat.

[5] Darryl F. Zanuck, angry with her for marrying his top box-office star, did not cast her in movies despite Annabella's contract with 20th Century-Fox.

On Broadway, she received excellent notices for her work in the play Jacobowsky and the Colonel, directed by Elia Kazan, in 1944.

Annabella also embarked on an affair with author Roald Dahl; she had refused to give Power a divorce, and her marriage was strained.

Annabella and Tyrone Power remained very close, and after his divorce from Linda Christian, he attempted to reconcile with her, confessing that in giving her up, he had made a terrible mistake.

Power informed her that he would not take the elevator to leave her apartment, but the stairs, in case she changed her mind and called him back.