Returning stateside, he settled on a career in Hollywood, eventually directing an array of screen legends, including Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby (1938), Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep (1946), Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and John Wayne in Rio Bravo (1959). During his career, Hawks made more than 40 films spanning the range of genres: Westerns, screwball comedies, gangster films and dramas.

Although he never won an Academy Award for his direction, he received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1974 (three years before he died) for creating some of the silver screen's most unforgettable works.