Barbara Payton Movies

Originally titled Run For the Hills, Atomic Blonde is a frenetic satire of Cold War paranoia. Sonny Tufts plays a man so terrified by the prospect of nuclear war that he moves his family -- including wife Barbara Payton, who must be the "blonde" of the title -- into a cave. His preventative measures make Tufts the target of public ridicule, but he has the last laugh when he stumbles upon a gold mine. The huge familiar-face supporting cast includes John Hamilton (Editor Perry White on Superman), Paul Maxey (Jackie Cooper's father-in-law on the TV sitcom People's Choice) and William Fawcett (Old Pete on the Saturday morning kiddie show Fury). It is safe to assume that the George Sanders listed in the cast of Atomic Blonde is not the Oscar-winning film star of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Dallas, Gary Cooper revived his long-dormant association with westerns. Cooper plays ex-Confederate officer Blayde Hollister, who rides into Dallas in search of the men who killed his family and stole his land. Because he is considered to be an outlaw by the authorities, Hollister is compelled to switch identities with U.S. marshal Martin Wetherby (Leif Erickson). This ruse requires Hollister to explain his plan to Wetherby's lady friend, Tonia Robles (Ruth Roman). One by one, Hollister gets rid of the men responsible for the murders of his loved ones. The most formidable of his enemies, Will Marlow (Raymond Massey), proves to be a bit too clever to fall into Hollister's trap...at least until Marlow shows his hand in the final scene. There's more talk than action in Dallas, but Gary Cooper's laconic performance holds the audience's interest throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Who better than the estimable Barbara Payton to play the Bad Blonde in this Lippert release? Actually, the film was originally made in England by Hammer Productions, then released in Great Britain as The Flanagan Boy and This Woman is Trouble, but neither one of these titles had the box-office "sock" of Lippert's cognomen. The story finds the duplicitous Lorna Vecchi (Payton) wrapping boxer Johnny Flanagan (Tony Wright) around her little finger. It seems that Lorna is married to Johnny's manager, Giuseppe (Frederick Valk). But when her husband proves to be a nuisance, the "bad blonde" blackmails Johnny into murdering the man. Astonishingly, until the very, very end it looks like Lorna's going to get away with it! Bad Blonde was based on a novel by Max Catto. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man. In a series of plot twists, the murderer is found, and Eden and Patrick are reunited. Directer Edgar G. Ulmer uses flashbacks and elliptical editing to good effect, but the film lacks any strong visual or narrative center. Barbara Peyton delivers a great performance as the ambiguous, mysterious femme-fatale. While still of some interest, Murder is My Beat lacks the power and grim vision of Ulmer's bleak gem, Detour. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Originally conceived as a Gary Cooper western, Only the Valiant reached the screen with Gregory Peck in the lead. Peck plays Richard Lance, a strictly by-the-book Army captain. Though hated by his men, Lance is respected for his military know-how. This comes in very handy when Lance and a detachment of troops attempt to reach, and then hold, an unguarded Army garrison in the middle of Apache Country. Among the film's he-man contingent are Ward Bond, Gig Young, Lon Chaney Jr., Neville Brand, Jeff Corey and Steve Brodie, all delivering topnotch performances. The nominal leading lady is Barbara Payton, whose real-life tragedies were far more dramatic than any film she appeared in. Only the Valiant was based on a novel by Charles Marquis Warren. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though not readily apparent by its title, The Four-Sided Triangle belongs in the realm of science fiction/fantasy. Barbara Payton stars as Lena, a British girl raised in America who returns to her hometown on a sentimental journey. Here she is reunited with her childhood friend Bill (Stephen Murray), now a scientist. With the help of his pal Robin (John Van Eyssen), Bill has developed a duplicating machine (today it'd be called a cloning device). When Robin and Lena fall in love, the heartbroken Bill decides to create a duplicate Lena, whom he names Helen. Unfortunately, since Helen is an exact copy of Lena, the clone falls in love with Robin as well. A climactic fire claims the life of one of the two Lenas--but which one? Director Terence Fisher co-adapted the screenplay from a novel by William F. Temple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When nearly perfect counterfeit 20-dollar bills start turning up, the Treasury Department recognizes them as the work of Tris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), a man already doing a long prison stretch. They offer Stewart a break on his sentence if he'll help them find out who got hold of his old plates, but he initially refuses. Some weeks later, while being transferred to another prison, Stewart escapes from custody -- it turns out that this is a set-up to free Stewart to search for the plates with a treasury agent keeping tabs on him; then he turns on the T-man as well, escaping for real. What Stewart doesn't know is that the agents expected and desired this move, believing that he would only go for the plates if he thought he could make some money from the bills and get out of the country with his girlfriend Laurie (Barbara Payton). They've got her apartment bugged, and one of their own men, Downey (John Hoyt), has been put in place as a customer at the nightclub where she works, quietly establishing himself as a man with some angles of his own and a yen to know her better. Stewart follows the trail to one of his ex-distributors, now in business for himself with the plates. But the man needs money, and Stewart thinks he can get it with help from Downey -- he doesn't like him trying to impress her, but does like it that he is a grifter with some money. They become partners, putting up Downey's cash to get the 250,000 dollars in counterfeit twenties, which Stewart will spend at face value where he and Laurie are going, in countries where they need U.S. currency and there are no treasury agents around to help identify counterfeit bills. Before the deal can be closed (and the arrest made), a new round of possible double-crosses starts between the hoods, and Downey's cover is suddenly blown by accident -- Stewart tries to kill him but is captured instead. Downey's superiors want to pull him out, but the agent thinks he can still salvage the operation if he can get to the plates before Laurie can talk to anyone. That leads to the denouement, an extended series of split-second plot developments with several lives at risk. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide