grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by bkoganbing grade 6 / 10

  "Where There Are Rhumbas And Tangos, To Tickle Your Spine"

  Nobody should expect to see Hamlet when watching Down Argentine Way. In fact the plot here is thinner and sillier than most of these fluff musical pieces. Still it's kind a fun.Don Ameche is up from Argentina in the USA looking to sell some horses and Betty Grable is looking to buy, the horse and Ameche. But once Don hears that Betty's character has the last name of Crawford, no sale, no way, no how. With mixed motives both looking to get even and an unspoken attraction for Don, Betty and Aunt Charlotte Greenwood take a trip to Buenos Aires for business and all different kinds of pleasure. We also meet Henry Stephenson, Ameche's father, and it does take the whole film to find just what he has against people named Crawford. The prize jumping horse of the Quintana family which is the character names of Ameche and Stephenson who gets turned into a racehorse by the old family trainer, J. Carrol Naish in another of his multitude of ethnic characterizations.Of course this film never got out of the Hollywood back lot at 20th Century Fox Studios and there are even fewer establishing shots of Buenos Aires than usual. The two best things about Down Argentine Way are the musical score written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon and the specialties of Carmen Miranda and the Nicholas Brothers.This was Carmen's American debut and she opens the film with a song that was forever indelibly identified with her, South American Way. The other hit song in the film is the title song of the picture to which everyone in the cast sings and dances at some point. The notes here say that Don Ameche's voice was dubbed. If so the guy must have been a great soundalike. Probably could fool a voice print identification. Sure sounded like Don Ameche singing from other films I've seen.Look for a nice performance by Leonid Kinskey a rather inept gigolo with a few other sidelines.Down Argentine Way was done before Juan Peron took power so the place was viewed favorably. The Roosevelt administration actively encouraged films to be made showing South America in a favorable light like this one with an idea towards making sure they were allies in the World War we were heading for. It's a nice piece of fluff with good songs Betty Grable's famous legs and the one and only Carmen Miranda.

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• Reviewed by ryancm grade 5 / 10

  Paper thin plot but fun

  Despite it's paper thin plot or saran wrap plot, DOWN ARGENTINE WAY is kind of fun, especially seeing it in this day and age. The DVD is outstanding with the colors very bright and chic, the way Foxs' musicals have always been. This put Betty Grable on the map and she is a fine replacement for Alice Faye. Maybe better, since Betty was a much better dancer as a couple of numbers have been added to the plot because of her. Carmen Miranda doesn't really have a role. She is just featured in a couple of night club scenes. Looks like her scenes were added on and has no bearing on the plot. Don Ameche is fine with his very good accent. The real standouts are Charlotte Greenwood and especially the Nocholas brothers. They must be seen to be believed. Like Miranda, they have no bearing in the story, just a showcase for their amazing dancing. For these reasons alone, see this one. Now Fox needs to release THAT NIGHT IN RIO and THE GANGS ALL HERE on DVD, as well as some other Betty Grables.

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• Reviewed by Nazi_Fighter_David grade 7 / 10

  Everything about this little demon was larger than life...

  Carmen Miranda, known as "The Brazilian Bombshell", was the original Chica Chica Bum Chic gal of forties musicals – a large swash of Rousseau on the movie screens, a festive explosion of outrageous razzmatazz that may not have added much to culture but did add a lot to one's enjoyment of it… Everything about this happy demon (except her height) was larger than life: her behavior; her struggles with the English language as it tripped its way into her head and out through her mouth in accents thick and hilarious; her eyes as they shrank into slits and lost themselves behind her cheeks rising and swelling through the effort required to pronounce her tongue-twisting lyrics at rapid speed; the continual motion of eyes, mouth, shoulders, hips, arms, hands, fingers and feet, the latter supported by elevated platforms that heightened her appeal, and the ever more extravagant gowns that have inspired nightclub performers ever since – garlands of sequins, bowers of living blooms around her hips and breasts, and orchards of fruit growing out of her turbans… The total effect was that of some medieval fertility ritual goddess whose presence was a promise of fruitfulness

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