He returned in time to join the others in 1937 in Hollywood, California to make the movie version of the play, starring Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea, Sylvia Sidney, and Claire Trevor.

Jordan appeared (as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom) in Warner's Damon Runyon comedy A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Young Tom Edison (1940).

In 1940, Jordan appeared in the movie Military Academy and accepted an offer from producer Sam Katzman to star in a new tough-kid series titled "The East Side Kids."

Leo Gorcey soon joined him, then Huntz Hall, and the trio continued to lead the series until 1943 when Jordan entered the United States Army during World War II as a foot soldier in the 97th Infantry Division.

On July 1, 1957, Jordan played Bob Ford, the assailant of Jesse James, in the television series Tales of Wells Fargo.