 Her film debut came in "Dynamite" (1929), written by Jeanie Macpherson and featuring Charles Bickford and Conrad Nagel.Production was delayed while Johnson recovered from an appendectomy.She went on to appear in "The Ship from Shanghai" (1930), "This Mad World" (1930), "Billy the Kid" (1930), "The Spoilers" (1930) with Gary Cooper and Betty Compson, DeMille's "Madam Satan" (1930), "Passion Flower" (1930), Capra's "American Madness" (1932), "Thirteen Women" (1932), "Of Human Bondage" (which starred Leslie Howard and Bette Davis), "Jalna" (1935) and "Mr. Lucky" (1943).