[5] Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers; the film Mayerling (1936) brought her to prominence.

Under the German occupation of France during World War II, Darrieux continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots.

However, it is reported that her brother had been threatened with deportation by Alfred Greven, the German manager of Continental, the only film production company permitted in occupied France.

Upon returning to France, she appeared in Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) with Charles Boyer, and The Red and the Black (1954) with Gérard Philippe.

She starred in Lady Chatterley's Lover (1955), whose theme of uninhibited sexuality led to its being proscribed by Catholic censors in the United States.

She played a supporting role in her last American film, United Artists' epic Alexander the Great (1956) starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.

She continued to work, her career spanning eight decades, most recently providing the voice of the protagonist's grandmother in the animated feature Persepolis (2007), which deals with the impact of the Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood in Iran.