Complex sentence: In successive years "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "The Sporting Venus", both directed by Neilan, were also big hits--leading her into a new career phase as one of the newly formed MGM studio's biggest stars.
Split into simpler sentences: In successive years, she starred in "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "The Sporting Venus", both directed by Neilan. Sweet soon began a new career phase as one of the newly formed MGM studio's biggest stars.