Down Mexico Way is a 1941 American western film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Fay McKenzie.

Based on a story by Dorrell and Stuart E. McGowan, the film is about a singing cowboy who comes to the aid of the townspeople of Sage City who are victims of a nefarious scam.

The film's producers, Homer Gerard (Arthur Loft) and Ellery Gibson (Sidney Blackmer), assure the townspeople that if they invest financially in the production, that John Wayne himself will star in the movie, and the world premier will be held in Sage City, putting their community on the map.

Their primary target is the wealthy Don Carlos Alvarado (Julian Rivero), whose daughter Maria Elena (Fay McKenzie) has been promised a starring role in the film in return for his financial support.

Determined to expose the con artists' latest scheme, Gene abducts Maria Elena during the first day of filming and convinces her that something is not right.

At Gene's suggestion, Maria Elena persuades her father to request that Gerard and Gibson, as a sign of good faith, invest some of their own money in the production.

They devise a plan to hold up the bank car bringing Don Carlos' share of the investment the following day and frame Gene for the crime.

Afterwards, Rurale Captain Rodriguez (Thornton Edwards) gives Gene the money swindled from the citizens of Sage City, and to everyone's surprise, the former bandit Pancho Grande announces that he has become a policeman.

[1] Between 1941 and 1942, Fay McKenzie appeared as the leading lady in five Gene Autry films: Down Mexico Way (1941), Sierra Sue (1941), Cowboy Serenade (1942), Heart of the Rio Grande (1942), and Home in Wyomin' (1942).

Born in Hollywood, California in 1918 into a show business family, McKenzie made her screen debut at the age of 10 weeks old as Gloria Swanson's baby in Station Content (1918).