It made a star of Betty Grable in her first leading role for the studio although she had already appeared in 31 films,[1] and it introduced American audiences to Carmen Miranda.

The film was directed by Irving Cummings and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck from a screenplay by Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware, based on a story by Rian James and Ralph Spence.

Before leaving, Don Diego Quintana instructs his son that no steeds are to be sold to Binnie Crawford or any member of her family because her brother Willis cheated him years earlier.

As Don Diego prepares to bet a large amount of money on his horse, Tito meanwhile, switches jockeys and has the race fixed so Furioso will lose, causing Binnie to discharge him.

Down Argentine Way is considered the first of many Fox films made to implement industry-wide approach to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy" toward Latin America.

During World War II, the U.S. government developed an administrative agency to encourage good relations with Latin America, as there was growing German influence there.

Since Miranda could not break her nightclub contract, her numbers for this film were shot in New York, while all other actors were working with director Irving Cummings in Los Angeles.

Miranda made several more films for 20th Century Fox, but the studio never was able to take advantage of the Brazilian star's special qualities to fit with American productions.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that J. Carroll Naish's success in a comedy role in this film prompted Fox to feature him again in That Night in Rio.

[11] This paved the way for further ‘Good Neighbor’ films to be made and for Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda to become international sensations throughout the war years.

[12] In his review for the newspaper Chicago Reader, Dave Kehr said "Betty Grable as an American heiress, Don Ameche as an Argentine horse breeder, and Carmen Miranda as something from another planet, all shot in delirious 40s Technicolor.

"[15] However, the film was banned in Argentina[16] after being "hissed off the screens" by audiences there for misrepresenting the real culture of the country, wrongly including many Mexican and Caribbean mannerisms and costumes, as if they were part of the Argentine landscape.

[17] In 1941, an attache at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires reported that the film had ceased being shown in Argentina because of its "ridiculous and disturbing images": Henry Stephenson is cast as a rich race-horse owner with an atrocious adopted dialect.

"[18]Critics of the film have further remarked that the typical tango scene was contaminated by elements of Afro-Cuban rhumba and Spanish flamenco, which have nothing to do with the Argentine style.