Editing Claudette Colbert (section)

===Mid-career, 1935–1944===
Colbert's rising profile internationally allowed her to renegotiate her contract, which raised her salary. For 1935 and 1936, she was listed sixth and eighth in Quigley's annual "[[Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll|Top-Ten Money-Making Stars Poll]]".<ref name="Quigley">{{cite web|url=http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html|title=The 2006 Motion Picture Almanac, Top Ten Money-Making Stars|work=Quigley Publishing Company|access-date=August 18, 2006|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114130743/http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html|archive-date=January 14, 2013}}</ref> ''[[The Gilded Lily (1935 film)|The Gilded Lily]]'' (1935) was popular at that time,<ref name="Pace1996" /><ref name="tcmdb" /> but she received an Academy Award nomination for her role in the hospital drama ''[[Private Worlds]]'' (1935).<ref name="Oscars8" />

In 1936, Colbert signed a new contract with Paramount, making her Hollywood's highest-paid actress.<ref name="Shipman117">Shipman, ''The Great Movie Stars'', p. 117.</ref> When the studio renewed her contract in 1938, she was again reported to be Hollywood's top-paid actress, with a salary of $426,924.<ref>{{cite book|year=1984|title=The Movie Stars Story, An Illustrated Guide to 500 of the World's Most Famous Stars of the Cinema|publisher=Octopus Books|isbn=0-7064-2092-6|page=53}}</ref> At the peak of her popularity in the late 1930s, she earned $150,000 per film.<ref name="Obituary" /> In 1937 and 1938, she was listed as the fourteenth and sixth (respectively) top money-making woman in the U.S.<ref name="tcmdb" />

Colbert spent the rest of the 1930s deftly alternating between romantic comedies and dramas: ''[[She Married Her Boss]]'' (1935) with [[Melvyn Douglas]]; ''[[The Bride Comes Home]]'' (1935), with [[Fred MacMurray]]; ''[[Under Two Flags (1936 film)|Under Two Flags]]'' (1936) with [[Ronald Colman]]; ''[[Zaza (1939 film)|Zaza]]'' (1939) with [[Herbert Marshall]]; and ''[[It's a Wonderful World (1939 film)|It's a Wonderful World]]'' (1939) with [[James Stewart]].

Colbert was {{convert|5|ft|5|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} tall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.listal.com/claudette-colbert|work=listal.com|title=Claudette Colbert Biography|access-date=October 9, 2016}}</ref> One columnist wrote that Colbert placed her career "ahead of everything, save possibly her marriage", and that she had a strong sense of what was best for her, and a "deep-rooted desire to be in shape, efficient, and under control".<ref name="ShipmanMovieTalk"/> A biographer wrote that Colbert "helped define femininity for her generation with her chic manner".<ref name="Berg_p190">{{cite book|last=Berg|first=A. Scott|year=1989|title=Goldwyn|publisher=Sphere Books|isbn=0-7474-0593-X|page=190}}</ref> Colbert once said, "I know what's best for me—after all."<ref name="The Claudette Colbert Business"/><ref name="Legends">{{cite book |title=Legends of Hollywood: The Life Claudette Colbert |year=2014 |publisher=CreateSpace}}{{ISBN?}}{{Page needed|date=July 2022}}</ref>

Colbert was very particular about how she appeared on-screen, and believed her face was difficult to light and photograph. She insisted on having the right side of her face away from the camera when shooting close-up, because of a small bump from a broken nose as a child.<ref>Helen Dudar, "Claudette Colbert Revels in a Happy, Starry Past", ''The New York Times'', October 27, 1991, p. A-1</ref> This sometimes required movie sets to be redesigned.<ref name="All Movie Guide"/> During the filming of ''[[Tovarich (film)|Tovarich]]'' (1937), director [[Anatole Litvak]] favored co-starring Charles Boyer over her in the camera angles, so she got very frustrated.<ref>Quirk, p. 100-101.</ref>

[[File:Claudette-colbert-plays-tennis.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=|Early 1940s]]
[[Gary Cooper]] was terrified at the prospect of working with Colbert in his first comedy, ''[[Bluebeard's Eighth Wife]]'' (1938), considering Colbert an expert in the genre.<ref>{{cite book |last=Niven |first=David |year=1976 |title=Bring on the Empty Horses |publisher=Putnam |isbn=0-399-11542-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bringonemptyhors00nive/page/286 286] |url=https://archive.org/details/bringonemptyhors00nive/page/286 }}</ref>

''[[Midnight (1939 film)|Midnight]]'' (1939) with [[Don Ameche]], directed by [[Mitchell Leisen]] and written by 
[[Billy Wilder]] and [[Charles Brackett]], was one of her best comedy films.<ref name="Tom Vallance"/> Ernst Lubitsch and Mitchell Leisen were her particularly favorite film directors working with.<ref>Quirk, p. 102, 107.</ref>

Colbert learnt about lighting and cinematography, and refused to begin filming until she was satisfied that she would be shown to her best advantage.<ref name="KDL_p119">{{cite book |author=Kotsilibas-Davis and Loy, Myrna |year=1988 |title=Being and Becoming |publisher=Donald I. Fine Inc. |isbn=1-55611-101-0 |page=119}}</ref> ''[[Drums Along the Mohawk]]'' (1939) with [[Henry Fonda]] was her first color film, and was [[1939 in film|the 10th-grossing picture]] of the year in the United States.<ref name=AllTime>{{cite news|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=All-time Film Rental Champs|date=October 15, 1990|page=M162 to 166}}</ref> However, she mistrusted the relatively new [[Technicolor]] process, and fearing she would not photograph well, preferred thereafter to be filmed in black-and-white.<ref>Finler, p. 24.</ref>

During this time, she began performing on [[CBS]]'s popular radio program ''[[Lux Radio Theater]]'', and was heard in 22 episodes between 1935 and 1954.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audio-classics.com/lluxradio.html|title=Audio Classics Archive Radio Logs: 'Lux Radio Theater'|access-date=November 23, 2007}}</ref> She also participated in 13 episodes of radio's ''[[The Screen Guild Theater]]'', between 1939 and 1952.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Screen-Guild.html|work=Radio Program Logs – The Digital Deli Online|title=The Screen Guild Radio Programs|access-date=February 15, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511172837/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Screen-Guild.html|archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref>

In 1940, Colbert was offered a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures that would have paid her $200,000 a year; she declined the offer after learning she could command $150,000 per film as a freelance artist. She secured roles in several prestigious films and this period marked the height of her earning power.<ref name="Shipman117" /> As a supporting role, Colbert co-starred with [[Clark Gable]] and [[Spencer Tracy]] in ''[[Boom Town (film)|Boom Town]]'', released by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] in 1940 and was [[1940 in film|the highest-grossing picture]] of the year in the United States. However, Colbert once often said that ''[[Arise, My Love]]'' (1940) was her favorite of all her movies.
<ref>Quirk, p. 115.</ref><ref name="Tom Vallance"/> It won the [[Academy Award for Best Story]].

[[Preston Sturges]]' mature ''[[The Palm Beach Story]]'' (1942) had been accepted some re-evaluation over the years as a comedic classic,<ref>[https://screenrant.com/palm-beach-story-1940s-movie-vfx-explained/ ''An 80-Year-Old Romantic Comedy Leaves VFX Artists Baffled By Mystery Of One Key Shot''] SCREEN RANT, by RACHEL ULATOWSKI,&nbsp;published JUN 11, 2023, accessed October 31, 2023</ref> where she did one of the best performances of her film career,<ref>[https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-palm-beach-story-vm423072 ''The Palm Beach Story''] AllMovie review by [[Richard Gilliam]], accessed October 31, 2023</ref> which featured&nbsp;such a thing as beauty that speaks of intelligence.<ref>[https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3438-the-palm-beach-story-love-in-a-warm-climate ''The Palm Beach Story: Love in a Warm Climate''] The Criterion Collection, by film critic Stephanie Zacharek, published JAN 21, 2015, accessed October 31, 2023</ref> She again became the industry's highest-paid  star in 1942.<ref name="Pace1996" />  In the next year, ''[[No Time for Love (1943 film)|No Time for Love]]'' (1943) was popular.<ref name="Pace1996" /><ref name="tcmdb" />

During filming of ''[[So Proudly We Hail!]]'' (1943), her co-star [[Paulette Goddard]] preferred working with the other co-star [[Veronica Lake]], over Colbert; Colbert felt that the younger actress had treated her like an "old lady". Goddard said that Colbert "was at [my] eyes at every moment". Goddard insisted that portions of the script be rewritten so that her role was as large as Colbert's.<ref name="ShipmanMovieTalk" /> This was unusual for Colbert, who was otherwise known for maintaining high standards of professionalism.<ref name="The Claudette Colbert Business"/><ref name="Britannica" /> For example, from her early film career, she offered acting advice to her less experienced co-stars.
<ref>Quirk, p. 180.</ref>

Impressed by Colbert's role in ''So Proudly We Hail!'', [[David O. Selznick]] approached her to play the lead in ''[[Since You Went Away]]'' (1944). Colbert was initially reluctant to appear as a mother of teenaged children, but Selznick eventually convinced her to take the role.<ref>Haver, pp. 338–340.</ref> Released in June 1944, the film made almost $5&nbsp;million at the US box office and was [[1944 in film|the year's third highest-grossing picture]]. One critic praised aspects of the film, but particularly Colbert's work.<ref>Haver, p. 342.</ref> Partly as a result, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.<ref name="Oscars17" />

During the World War II, she also volunteered with the Red Cross.<ref name="netflix" />