Down Argentine Way (1940)

Don Ameche stars as Ricardo Quintana the charming son of a less charming Argentine horse breeder (Henry Stephenson). Betty Grable is vacationing American heiress Glenda Crawford who "collects" horses as a hobby. Separated by a family feud Ricardo and Glenda must endure all sorts of setbacks and misunderstandings before crossing the romantic finish line. Filmed on location Down Argentine Way served to introduce Brazilian bombshell Carmen Miranda performing a variety of sizzling South American numbers with her own band. Also on hand are the Nicholas Brothers whose show-stopping dance number has been spotlighted innumerable times in various "best of Hollywood musicals" compilations. Hal Erickson All Movie GuideSystem Requirements:Running Time: 89 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 024543244776 Manufacturer No: 2234477 Product Description

Pleasant Grable-Ameche musical with much supporting talent.

Betty finally got lucky in landing the staring role in this one, after Alice Faye, the intended star, pleaded exhaustion. Fox had picked up Betty's contract only months before, after Betty had had enough of Paramount not knowing what to do with her. She was doubly lucky in that this was also Carmen Miranda's first Hollywood film. Fox wanted to show off Carmen's colorful outfits, thus filmed the show in Technicolor, an uncommon luxury at the time. Yet, Carmen was not a threat to steal the show from Betty. She was still contracted to a NYC nightclub, thus her limited screen time had to be filmed in NYC. No doubt, Fox also wanted to test the reaction of US audiences to her before featuring her more. Thus, this film served as the launching pad for the celebrity of two of the biggest Hollywood stars of the '40s.
The story, though quite improbable, is important to the film. Two wealthy American or Argentinian horse-breeding families meet and have their differences as well as attractions. In one scene, Betty unexpectedly sees Argentinian Ricardo Quintana(Don Ameche) in a Buenos Aires nightclub, having been escorted there by another man she just met. She drops her date and accompanies Ameche to a more private room where they talk, not having seen each other since their falling out in the US over the reneged offer to buy Ameche's horse. Betty pretends to forgive Ameche and to warm up to his advances, then suddenly slaps him and walks out, saying that's what she really came to Argentina to do. One would think that to be the end of their association, but actually it was just a new beginning. She really was attracted to him, but wanted first to get even for the disappointment he had caused her. I thought Betty and Ameche had good chemistry, as they would show again in the following year in "Moon over Miami". Ameche is quite handsome and always immaculately dressed, and Betty wears a variety of beautiful outfits. To me, Betty looked and acted like a blond blue-eyed singing-dancing version of Olivia DeHaviland. Both had great appeal. Ameche could sing tolerably well in solos or duets with Betty. Unlike most of the subsequent Fox musicals of the early '40s involving Betty, Alice Faye or Sonja Henje, the romance between the stars is put on sound footing relatively early, rather than doing a flip-flop at the end.
The supporting cast was fine, in general. Charlotte Greenwood, who would appear in quite a few of Fox's musicals over the next few years, serves as Betty's aunt and is the featured singer-dancer in a number or two. She was famous for her sidewise high kick. Henry Stephenson made a very credible Argentinian aristocrat, as Ameche's father. Carrol Nash added some down on the farm atmosphere to the mostly aristocratic banter. However, I would have preferred the originally cast Cesar Romero in place of Leonid Kinskey, as the sly gigolo. But, perhaps Cesar would have been too handsome and polished to resist. The Nicholas Brothers, who would appear again in the Fox musicals "Sun Valley Serenade" and "Orchestra Wives", were an added major attraction, with their unique acrobatic dance routines. Several other singing or dancing groups were also featured, taking more of the load off the stars. One, consisting of 6 men and a girl, had the cute name of The Six Hits and a Miss.
My DVD is of high quality. The commentary version by Sylvia Stoddard and the bio of Betty, as special features, are quite worthwhile, making this a very valuable DVD. Several postcards from the film and a background pamphlet are also included. Give the preview of "The Dolly Sisters" a miss, as it looks to have been recorded from an old B&W TV, not the vibrant Technicolor of the original.
According to the commentary, although Fox was pressured by FDR to make some Latin American-oriented feature films, as part of his effort to keep these countries from joining the Axis in the developing WWII, the effort backfired. The Argentinians were offended by the Hollywood inaccuracies in their Spanish accents and portrayal of the details of the Argentinian aristocracy. Also, they didn't like the use of Carmen, a Brazilian, in a film supposedly set mostly in Argentina. Thus, as in the case of "The King and I", which offended Thais in the portrayal of their past king, the film was banned in the country it was supposed to bring to the American public. September 1, 2008

Great Old Movie

One of the classics. Fun, happy, timeless.
A great film for the whole family. July 20, 2008

The Nicholas Brothers Shine!

I awarded this film five stars solely on the basis of the fact that the Nicholas Brothers are in it. Their stellar showmanship and sparkling dance routine are as good as it gets. I could watch them perform a thousand times and never get bored. They somehow managed to make the most difficult moves appear effortless. Now that takes real talent and countless hours of practice. The rest of the movie, in spectacular Technicolor, is a pretty routine 1940's romantic comedy, albeit with some interesting location footage shot "down Argentine way". May 19, 2008

fine, classic movie musical with scenery and entertainment

Down Argentine Way is a delightful, light fare type of early 1940s movie musical that should charm just about anyone who loves this type of motion picture. We get fine performances from great stars including Betty Grable, Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda and the incredible dancing Nicholas Brothers! The plot moves along at a good pace and the acting was quite convincing.

The action starts when horse lover Glenda Crawford (Betty Grable) and her mother Binnie Crawford (Charlotte Greenwood) are at the racetrack--once again. It seems the Crawford family has always loved horses and they race them, too. Glenda sees a fine race horse and she wants to buy the horse--trouble is, however, that the horse belongs to crabby Don Diego Quintana (Henry Stephenson), who harbors a long and somewhat silly personal grudge against Willis Crawford, the patriarch of the Crawford family.

Anyway, Glenda and Binnie go to Argentina after their first attempt to buy horses from Quintana doesn't go over very well. It's also not long before Glenda falls in love with Quintana's son Ricardo Quintana (Don Ameche) who is equally charmed by Glenda. The young couple tries to pass Glenda Crawford off to Don Quintana as Glenda Cunningham in the hopes that he will like her and then not care if she's a Crawford; but that too has its complications.

Meanwhile there's a horse bred for racing--will Don Quintana ever let the horse race? It's a flimsy subplot but the few horse races that we do see in this film enhance the action; and that's all right by me!

Look for some excellent song and dance numbers--remember, these plots were practically just excuses for the studio to film fabulous song and dance numbers. Rumor has it that after the public first saw The Nicholas Brothers dance they cheered so much the projectionist had to rewind the film to show their scene again! Charlotte Greenwood also scores big with her nearly unbelievable ability to kick way high with her legs as she merrily dances in another number. Betty Grable dances very well, too. In addition, this film marks Carmen Miranda's film debut; she sings a couple of songs during the movie as well as a brief tune at the very beginning of the movie. Carmen sparkles even when they weren't playing her up as much as they did in later films!

The DVD comes with a superlative extra on the life and times of Betty Grable. She really did seem like an especially sweet gal who actually didn't want too much out of life and enjoyed her private family life as best as she could. The quality of the still photos in the extra on Betty Grable is excellent. There is also a running but optional commentary for people who want to know what went on behind the scenes as this movie was being filmed. Great!

Overall, Down Argentine Way is a musical well worth seeing. I usually reserve five stars for a MGM musical; but this time Fox really did it up right! Fans of classic movie musicals cannot afford to miss this one!
March 15, 2008

Great old movie

If you love Betty Grable and Don Amiche and great tap dancing, this is your movie. The plot is pretty thin but people like Carmen Mirandi and other great character actors make for great enjoyment. If you want to forget your troubles for 76 minutes, this is the movie that will do it. March 9, 2008

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