Allman made her film debut as an actress in 1940's "The Road to Singapore" in an unbilled bit (as were the majority of Allman's motion picture appearances in the 1940s) as a homely woman who pursues Bob Hope. Another memorable bit was as one of the several psychotics Abbott & Costello run into when trying to find the Susquehanna Hat Co. (on Bagel St.) in "In Society" (1944). She worked most successfully during this period as a radio comedian playing assorted guest parts, typically as a shrewish woman. One of her more steady radio gigs was on the "Blondie" radio series in the part of Cora Dithers, the domineering wife of Dagwood Bumstead's boss.