Down Argentine Way (1940)

Down Argentine Way may not get anywhere near a list of great movie musicals, but it's good silly fun for viewers looking for an unchallenging way to spend an hour and a half. While the plot won't win any awards, it has a few nice touches which surprise in a gentle way, and the horse breeding and racing background makes for a nice change of pace. Betty Grable is her usual pleasing self, although playing someone with a bit more sophistication than usual. She's in fine voice and top dancing form, and though neither she nor Don Ameche are taxed by their roles, they bring a relaxed commitment to them that is effective. The supporting cast is very lively, especially the droll Charlotte Greenwood, the effervescent Nicholas Brothers and the one-of-a-kind Carmen Miranda, seen here in a much more subdued visual setting which allows her talent to come through free of the later entertaining but campy trappings. The Harry Warren-Mack Gordon score is breezy and tuneful, the vocal arrangements are enchanting, and the photography is quite beautiful; the colors are captured and displayed magnificently. Grable would follow Argentine with a change-of-pace performance in I Wake Up Screaming. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide