1940 - DOWN ARGENTINA WAY, musical in blazing 40's technicolor

If the dreary Broadway Melody of 1940 was almost redeemed by the final dance number with Astaire and Powell, Daryl F. Zanuck's production completely exceeds expectations in the entertainment genre.  Down Argentina Way shows Fox Studios delivering a highly entertaining musical without lingering over any thing so mindless and boring as a plot.

And speaking of the plot here we go.  Don Ameche sporting a rather shaky South American accent is a horse breeder in Argentina.  On a trip to the United States he falls in love with a horse breeder played by Betty Grable.  It's the usual light weight love story that's frequently found in light weight musicals.  But the writers and producer Zanuck made sure to stay focused on the good looking leads and add enough entertaining subplots to keep things moving along at a rapid pace.

This was a big breakout film for blonde Betty Grable who would go on to be one of Fox's biggest stars surpassing Alice Faye who was the big blonde big deal prior to Grable's ascent.  Grable had actually been in the entertainment business for 11 years before finally hitting the big time.  She was one of those Hollywood stars who apparently everyone could get along with.

Don Ameche's career started in radio and he had a long one working into the early 1990's.  Also featured in Down Argentina Way were the Nicholas Brothers an amazing dancing specialty act who Fred Astaire commented were the best tap dancers he had ever seen.  Mention should also be made of Carmen Miranda who was probably the only actual Hispanic in the cast.  She's in a couple of specialty numbers which for once don't bring the film to a halt.

 Down Argentina Way moves at a quick pace,  Zanuck liked his films to move.  The film is literally bathed in early bright and stunning technicolor which is really something to see.  This film cries out for a 4K remaster as it is it's really a visual treat.  This 1940's musical is over 80 years old and is still highly entertaining.

The film was written by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware and probably with some input from Daryl F. Zanuck, the running time is 89 minutes