44 Norma Shearer Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

The Restless Sex is a drama film which revolves around a restless and adventurous young woman named Stephanie who decides to get married to Oswald, an art student, when her childhood sweetheart Jim leaves for Paris to pursue his writing career. When Jim returns and finds out, he tries to win Stephanie back.

Mary Haines lives a wealthy and happy life with her wealthy financier husband Stephen and their little daughter Molly. But her life takes a turn after her friend finds out that Stephen is having an affair.

Lennox is a rich and good-looking womanizer, who tricks a poor country girl named Anna into a fake marriage. When Anna gets pregnant, Lennox leaves her, and she is forced to deal with the baby on her own. The baby eventually dies, after which she manages to get a job with a rich man named Squire Bartlett. Soon, Bartlett’s son, David, falls for her. But due to her tragic past, Anna rejects his advances.   

This romantic drama film takes us to 19th century London, and tells the story of patriarch Edward Moulton Barrett and his children. Edward is quite strict towards all nine of them. In addition, he has forbidden his children from getting married as well. This causes problems with the youngest daughter Henrietta, as she is in love with Captain Surtees Cook, with whom she wants to get married. The only child who abides by Edward’s rules is his daughter Elizabeth. Since she is bedridden due to her chronic illness, she doesn’t seem to mind. However, her outlook on life changes after she meets Robert Browning, a young poet.

The plot of the movie, adapted from the 1919 play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, concerns John Carteret who looses his fiancé, Moonyeen Clare on the wedding day. Years later, he is given the custody of a five year old Kathleen, Moonyeen‘s niece. A grown up Kathleen is the mirror image of her aunt and John adores her. However, he is aghast when she falls for the son of the man who killed Moonyeen.

After three years of marriage, Ted begins to cheat on his wife Jerry. In order to teach him a lesson, she decides to pursue an affair with his friend Don. Eventually, this leads to a divorce.  While Ted struggles with depression, and sinks into alcoholism, Jerry reunites with Paul, who was in love with her, before her marriage with Ted.  

Amanda and Elyot, who used to be once married, meet each other unexpectedly during their honeymoons. They soon realize that they are still attracted to one another, and try to rekindle their love.

Stephen Ashe is an alcoholic lawyer who defends a notorious gambler named Ace who was the accused in a murder case. Meanwhile, his daughter Jan Ashe, who has just broken her engagement to polo player Dwight Winthrop finds herself attracted to Ace, and they begin a relationship. Stephen obviously doesn’t approve of this relationship and tries to break it off.

Based on the famous play by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet is a romantic drama film which tells the story of Romeo, son of Montague, who falls passionately in love with Juliet, daughter of Capulet. They get married in secret, since their feuding families would never approve of their relationship. Everything seems to be going well, until Romeo’s best friend Mercutio, is killed by Juliet’s cousin Tybalt.

Lord Phillip Rexford and Mary is a happily married couple of London. When Rexford goes to America for business, Mary visits a relative in Riviera and encounters her ex-beau Tommie Treal, who pursues her into a situation that creates scandal. Rexford, refusing to believe Mary, grows distant and decides to divorce her. But the distrust may lead to problems in their lives. 

Ginger is a young girl with likes to flirt with men. Due to her wild nature, her father feels that it is best to send her away to a boarding school. There, she falls for a man who rides past their school every day. However, things get complicated for her when she is framed when their school’s safe gets robbed.

The Christmas Party is a short drama film, which tells the story of Jackie, who is willing to throw a Christmas party for his friends on his football team. However, he is unsure how to begin working on it, and therefore, has to take help.

This is a silent romantic drama film focusing on a convict’s daughter, who earns her living as a taxi dancer. Saved from an unwanted advance by a friend of her boyfriend, she falls for him.  Also in love with him is the daughter of the judge who sent her father to prison 18 years ago. 

An adaptation of Ursula Parrott’s synonymous book, the film tells the story of Lisbeth, who believes that freedom is an essential part of love and marriage. Despite having a loyal fiancée in Steve, she enters into a steamy relationship with Alan, a journalist. But when she hears that he is married and is going abroad, she begins to react differently. 

The Cardboard Lover is a romantic comedy film, revolving around a wealthy woman, who wants to stop her ex-boyfriend from pursuing her. Therefore, she hires a young songwriter who is in need of money, to pretend to be her new lover. However, problem arises when the man actually falls in love with her. 

After finding out that there is an insanity running in her husband’s family, Nina Leeds decides to have a love child with a doctor, and lets her husband believes the child is his.  

This 1931 short film revolves around the stolen pearls of Norma Shearer. After the theft, a detective is sent to interrogate the party guests, most of which are famous Hollywood stars. 

Pretty Ladies is a drama comedy film which tells the story of a female comic Maggie who takes a fall off the stage and ends up landing on the drum of Al, a musician. They eventually fall for one another, and get married. Soon, Al becomes a famous songwriter, while Maggie becomes a stay-at-home mother. Things get complicated when Al starts having feelings for another woman.

Katherine Emerson is a girl from a small town who wants to experience all the luxuries in life. Therefore, she leaves her town behind and sets off to New York, looking for a better life. She is soon involved in a train wreck where another woman, a co-passenger is killed. After finding the deceased woman’s purse, she learns that the latter was invited to spend six months in a luxury apartment in Manhattan. Therefore, she decides to assume the identity of the victim.