Sally Payne

Acting

Sally Payne

Born 1912-09-05 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sally Payne (September 5, 1912 – May 8, 1999) was an American actress. She featured in several B-Westerns in the 1940s. Payne made her first film in 1935, appearing in a bit part. She became a leading actress in B films, usually westerns. She also played in comedy shorts for RKO Radio Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She is most remembered for her performance as Calamity Jane in the Roy Rogers western Young Bill Hickok (1940), as well as acting the role of Belle Starr in Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941), where her performing style echoed that of a contemporary, Una Merkel. Just before her association with Rogers ended, her status had enlarged from a supporting-role character to that of first-billed actress. Payne's characters were usually the tomboy type, often helping men rather than being dependent on them. She frequently wore men's clothing, carried a weapon, drove stagecoaches and rode horses. Her male associates identified strongly with her ability to survive a rough environment like the Old West frontier, but she was never the object of male fantasies. Rarely did Payne's characters become physically intimate with her masculine counterparts; thus if she were called on to display affection of any sort, the relationships never went beyond the strictly platonic. Thus, her persona was that of a female sidekick, but never a lover. After Payne left acting, she ran her own book store and worked as an artist, creating oil paintings for her family and her friends and illustrating a series of children's books. Payne retired from films in 1942 after her marriage to Arthur F. Kelly, an executive for Western Airlines. On May 8, 1999, she died in Los Angeles of a stroke at the age of 86.

Acting credits

When Tomorrow Comes poster
5.4

A waitress destined for a better life falls in love with a handsome stranger, only to find that he is already married.

When Tomorrow Comes

1939

The Amazing Mr. Williams poster
6.0

Kenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor's secretary. Or isn't he rather married with his job? For each time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine's curves or the glorious fight against crime?

The Amazing Mr. Williams

1939

I Love You Again poster
7.2

Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.

I Love You Again

1940

One Night in the Tropics poster
5.8

Jim "Lucky" Moore, an insurance salesman, comes up with a novel policy for his friend, Steve: a 'love insurance policy', that will pay out $1-million if Steve does not marry his fiancée, Cynthia. The upcoming marriage is jeopardized by Steve's ex-girlfriend, Mickey, and Cynthia's disapproving Aunt Kitty. The policy is underwritten by a nightclub owner, Roscoe, who sends two enforcers - Abbott and Costello - to ensure that the wedding occurs as planned.

One Night in the Tropics

1940

No artwork available
NR

Two autograph hounds attend an air show at Santa Anita racetrack.

Soaring Stars

1942

Jesse James at Bay poster
4.8

When Jesse learns that Krager is cheating settlers, he and his gang rob trains to obtain money for them to purchase their land. Krager, finding a Jesse look alike in Burns, hires him to wreck havoc on the ranchers. When Jesse kills Burns he switches clothes and goes after the culprits.

Jesse James at Bay

1941

City for Conquest poster
6.9

The heartbreaking but hopeful tale of Danny Kenny and Peggy Nash, two sweethearts who meet and struggle through their impoverished lives in New York City. When Peggy, hoping for something better in life for both of them, breaks off her engagement to Danny, he sets out to be a championship boxer, while she becomes a dancer paired with a sleazy partner. Will tragedy reunite the former lovers?

City for Conquest

1940

Red River Valley poster
7.5

To bring water to their valley, ranchers have raised money to build a dam. When that money is stolen, Allison suggests the ranchers sell their stock to a friend of his thereby getting the money needed to complete the dam. Roy has a clue that Allison was involved in the robbery and is out to get control of the valley. So Roy and the boys try to delay the sale of the stock while they look for proof against Allison.

Red River Valley

1941

No, No, Nanette poster
6.2

Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else?

No, No, Nanette

1940

Hollywood Hobbies poster
5.6

In this short film, two starstruck movie fans hire a tour guide and see a plethora of Hollywood stars.

Hollywood Hobbies

1939

When the Daltons Rode poster
6.2

Young lawyer Tod Jackson arrives in pioneer Kansas to visit his prosperous rancher friends the Daltons, just as the latter are in danger of losing their land to a crooked development company. When Tod tries to help them, a faked murder charge turns the Daltons into outlaws, but more victims than villains in this fictionalized version. Will Tod stay loyal to his friends despite falling in love with Bob Dalton's former fiancée Julie?

When the Daltons Rode

1940

Man from Cheyenne poster
8.0

Roy is a government man assigned to a case of cattle rustling in the part of the country where he grew up, unaware that the leader of the gang is a woman, in fact an old flame.

Man from Cheyenne

1942

Bad Man of Deadwood poster
5.3

Roy and Gabby fight bad guys to save the town of Deadwood.

Bad Man of Deadwood

1941

Wedding Bills poster
8.5

Another in the long series of "Pete Smith" shorts from M-G-M in which William Newell meets and falls in love with Sally Payne, and begins to budget for their plans to get married. His budget, alas, does not include nor anticipate the plans of Sally and her parents. This short was reissued in June of 1950 to be shown as a trailer with 1950's "Father of the Bride" and some sources think this short was made for that express purpose and date it as a 1950 film.

Wedding Bills

1940

La Conga Nights poster
7.7

In this comedy, actor Hugh Herbert plays six different roles. Only one of the roles is a man. The story centers around a dizzy music lover, who has grown rich through real estate deals. Also figuring in the story are a cab driver/performer, and a down-on-her-luck, aspiring singer. They meet when she hails his cab as she skips out on her former boarding house because she cannot pay rent.

La Conga Nights

1940

Money and the Woman poster
4.4

An embezzler's wife begs his boss for forgiveness, only to fall in love with him.

Money and the Woman

1940

No artwork available
10.0

Five years after he narrated STRIKES AND SPARES, Pete Smith returns to the subject of bowling with two pros: Andy Varipapa, who threw some trick shots in the earlier movie and Ned Day, who demonstrates proper form and technique.

Set 'em Up

1939

Robin Hood of the Pecos poster
6.0

Robin Hood of the Pecos is a 1941 American film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane. Following the Civil War, the South still faced many dangers not the least of which were the armies of carpetbaggers that descended on impoverished towns, intent on making a fast greenback at the expense of the local populace.

Robin Hood of the Pecos

1941

Blondie Brings Up Baby poster
6.9

Baby Dumpling, the six-year-old son of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead disappears from sight during his first day at school. While Dagwood frantically combs the city in search of the boy, Baby Dumpling spents a nice, safe afternoon with poor little rich girl Melinda Mason, who with her new playmate's help arises from her sickbed to walk across the room for the first time in months.

Blondie Brings Up Baby

1939

Sheriff of Tombstone poster
7.2

The mayor has sent for a gunslinger who, though appearing to clean up the town, is really to be the mayor's means of taking the town over. When Roy and Gabby arrive in Tombstone, Roy is mistaken for the gunslinger. Just as Roy is ready to expose the mayor, the real gunslinger shows up.

Sheriff of Tombstone

1941

The Domineering Male poster
7.3

This Pete Smith Specialty short looks at the notion that a man chases a woman till he catches her. Who's really chasing whom?

The Domineering Male

1940

Westward Ho-Hum poster
8.0

Edgar, his wife and his brother-in-law are riding through the desert in a convertible to see a restaurant that Edgar has purchased sight unseen. They camp in a ghost town and Edgar sees a "Gold Nugget Restaurant" sign and it dawns on him that is his purchase. Inside, Edgar runs into two outlaws who force him to drive them to the next town. Unknown to Edgar, Sally lassos the renegades out of the back seat, while Edgar drives on in his (usual) blissful state of ignorance.

Westward Ho-Hum

1941

Blondie Meets the Boss poster
5.8

Dagwood inadvertently gets cornered in to resigning. When his wife Blondie tries to ask Dagwoods boss Mr. Dithers for his job back, he ends up hiring her instead. This doesn't sit too well with Dagwood. Blondie's sister comes to visit, and Dagwood is put in a compromising situation with another woman.

Blondie Meets the Boss

1939

The Lady from Cheyenne poster
5.7

Fictionalized story of the 1869 adoption of women's suffrage in Wyoming Territory. In the new-founded railroad town of Laraville, Boss Jim Cork hopes to manipulate the sale of town lots to give him control, but Quaker schoolmarm Annie Morgan bags one of the key lots. Cork's lawyer Steve Lewis tries romancing Annie to get the lot back, finding her so overpoweringly liberated she leaves him dizzy. Still, Steve attains his nefarious object...almost...then has cause to deeply regret having aroused the sleeping giant of feminism!

The Lady from Cheyenne

1941