17 Margaret Sullavan Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

Alfred Kralik and Klara Novak, the employees of a Budapest leather-goods store, can hardly tolerate each other and are always arguing. Kralik confides in a co-worker that he has entered into a secret correspondence with an anonymous girl, while Klara, too, is taken in by her unnamed letter-writing friend. Unbeknownst to both, they are the pen pals who have unknowingly fallen for each other.

The Good Fairy is a romantic comedy film which tells the story of Luisa Ginglebuscher, who grows up in the Municipal Orphanage. From an early age, she used to entertain the other girls with her fairy tales. She later begins working in a movie palace in Budapest, and she tries to be friendly towards others and help them in every way. She soon befriends a millionaire named Konrad. She is not interested in his rich gifts, but she schemes to be a ‘good fairy’ and try to divert some of his wealth to the poor Dr Sporum instead.  

Three Comrades is a romantic drama film which takes us to the time after the First World War, and revolves around three German soldiers Erich Lohkamp, Otto Koster and Gottfried Lenz. They share a close friendship which is strengthened by the fact that they all share love for the same woman, who is unfortunately dying due to tuberculosis.

During WWI, a youthful Texan soldier Bill Pettigrew gets knocked down by Broadway revue star Daisy Heath’s car. As he boasts to his friends about Daisy being his date, she agrees to play along. But her rich boyfriend and show’s financier Sam Baily doesn’t approve. When Bill’s unit is being sent to France, he decides to propose to Daisy. Will she accept?

Five years after meeting and falling in love with a banker, a girl decides to become his mistress, after she learns that he has got married, and has also had a son. As a price for this affair, she accepts a life in the shadows. 

Set during the Second World War, the film focuses on thirteen American women serving at a field hospital in war torn Philippine. Out of the thirteen, only two are trained nurses, the rest being lay volunteers from different backgrounds. The story chronicles how they battle constant Japanese air raids, short medical supplies and bouts of malaria before they evolve into a cohesive team. 

After being discovered as half-Jew, Ludwig Kern is jailed and his passport is seized. Later, he travels to Czechoslovakia with anti-Nazi Josef Steiner, and meets Jew refugee Ruth Holland. Ludwig and Ruth fall in love, while Josef tries to see his ailing wife in Germany. With commencement of WWII, as Nazis invade European countries, the three refugees try to evade the advancing army. 

No Sad Songs For Me tells the story of a housewife who is dying from cancer, but has chosen not to tell her family about it. She even encourages her husband to have an affair with his colleague. However, the situation worsens as her illness continues to grow.  

Next Time we Love is a romantic comedy film, which tells the story of a young married couple Christopher and Cicely. Their relationship is affected when Christopher is assigned overseas as a foreign correspondent and Cicely achieves stardom. Meanwhile, their friend Tommy, who secretly loves Cicely, tries to get close to her. 

The Moon’s Our Home is a comedy film which tells the story of a novelist Henry who starts dating an actress named Margaret. They eventually get married, but neither of them has much idea of the other’s career.  

It is a story of an anxious, distressed wife who bravely waits and prays for her husband to return safely during the Civil War.

Andre Cassil is a charming playwright who falls for a physician named Jane Alexander, and the two decide to get married impulsively. However, their honeymoon ends quickly, when it turns out that Jane’s views on marriage are quite progressive, and the two end up having separate apartments. In order to lure his wife into his bedroom, Andre tries to make her jealous.

Tired of her fast life, Olivia Ridley, a New York night club dancer, agrees to marry Harry Linden, a wealthy farmer from Wisconsin, a match not at all approved by Henry’s dominating sister, Hannah. Nonetheless, they get married and move to the farm, where Olivia faces opposition from Hannah. To make matter worse, her brother-in-law falls in love with her, while his wife becomes her ally.