Down Argentine Way is basically a series of
delightful musical numbers that keep getting interrupted by a plot. Ricardo
Quintana (Don Ameche) comes to New York from Argentina to sell some of his
father’s horses. His father has warned him not to tell any horses to Binnie
Crawford (the great Charlotte Greenwood, totally in her element as the
wisecracking second female lead) or her family; apparently, there’s
longstanding bad blood between the families. Quintana falls in love with Glenda
Crawford (Betty Grable, who seems game for almost anything) but refuses to sell
a horse to her because she’s Binnie’s niece. So angered is Glenda that she
flies all the way to Argentina to slap him, which is absurd. There’s more
silliness about training a race horse and how Don Diego (Henry Stephenson),
Ricardo’s father, will forgive everything if the horse wins the race. By
today’s standards—actually, probably even by the standards of the time—the
depictions of the Argentinians are stereotypical and offensive, and most of the
narrative details are somewhat ridiculous. What made this film a success were,
undoubtedly, the musical numbers. Carmen Miranda, whose scenes were filmed in
New York because she couldn’t get out of her nightclub contract to come to
Hollywood, performs “Bambu, Bambu,” “Mamae Eu Quiero,” and “South American
Way,” all marvelous numbers. The Nicholas Brothers appear in a nightclub scene
that highlights how marvelously flexible they were as tap dancers. (It’s still
infuriating to know that their scene was inserted into the film in such a way
that it could be deleted for screenings in Southern states.) Ameche and Grable sing
the title song in Spanish (Ameche) and English (Grable). And if you’ve never
seen the high-kicking Greenwood, you’ll love “Sing to Your Senorita” (that is,
if you can overlook the fact that a white woman is singing this song at an
Argentinian village festival). The movie made stars of Miranda and Gable, and
they are truly the highlights of the film.
Oscar Nominations: Best Color Cinematography, Best
Color Art Direction, and Best Original Song (“Down Argentine Way”)
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