[4] After working at the Pasadena Playhouse,[3] she came to the attention of the director Clarence Brown, at a time when he had been looking for an actress to stand in for Greta Garbo in screen tests.

This led to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and roles in films such as Mata Hari (1931), Scarface (1932), The Phantom of Crestwood (1932), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Arsene Lupin (1933), Gabriel Over the White House (1933), and Dinner at Eight (1933).

Her career came to an end in 1947 (November 1952) [citation needed] when she testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to answer questions about her alleged American Communist Party membership.

[1] In December 1999, at the age of 90, she appeared in Vanity Fair in an article about blacklist survivors, and she was honored at the San Francisco Film Festival.

[7] Morley lived in Santa Monica, California at the now demolished retirement facility the Beautiful Montana Gardens during her later years.