8 thoughts on “Betty Grable and Don Ameche in “Down Argentine Way””
I just watched this one again the other day. No plot, but Don Ameche is a dream date, and Charlotte Greenwood does her high kick dance. The best part: Betty Grable is with a gigolo guide in Buenos Aires, and they go to a nightclub. All the acts are fine, but one exotic dancing couple really impress Betty. “Oh, they’re WONDERFUL! Please tell them they are the best I have ever seen!” The gigolo starts to tell them in Spanish, and gets blank stares. “Oh, we don’t speak Spanish. We’re from Syracuse!” I love it because it is a fun surprise, and because I lived in Syracuse, and because you can explain away any ignorance, like not knowing Spanish, just by saying you are from Syracuse. And everyone nods gravely, as if that accounts for everything.
I’ve never seen this movie but maybe I will one day. Would love to go to Argentina too some day.
I know what you mean about language – there’s a fairly common attitude in North America (El Norte to you) that all you need to know is English. Quebec excepted of course but even when living there in Montreal I recall meeting lots of people who only knew French and felt no need to know another language. Knowing only one language seems to limit your possibilities. I know French pretty well, some Spanish, and a few words (mostly swear or sex words) in a handful of other languages.
Syracuse is really a nice place. The winters are extremely rigorous, though. I just saw one of those lists of the 25 cities with the heaviest snowfall in one day, and Syracuse was number one. I remember we got four feet overnight once. But that is nothing compared to the Tug Hill plateau, just to the north, where some areas get 100 feet of snow in a season. Booneville, Watertown… Here in Guadalajara it snowed about 15 years ago. The first time since 1883.
I used to live in Montreal, I know a thing or two about lots of snow, icy wind, and brutal cold! It’s usually not quite as bad here on the coast but this last winter was a particularly rough one.
Snow in Guadalajara? Huh? I thought it was tropical there.
We are in the tropics, the same latitude as Hawaii. But we are a mile up. GDL almost never gets snow, but lots of the higher elevations in Mexico do, every year. The volcanoes to the south of here often have snow, especially el Nevado de Colima.
I didn’t realize Guadalajara was so high up in elevation. It looks fairly near the shore on maps. Never been there. My Mexican adventures have only included Acapulco, Cuernevaca, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Puebla and the whole region around Puebla. I don’t know about his living near volcanoes. Sounds iffy.
MATTHEW'S ISLAND 
I just watched this one again the other day. No plot, but Don Ameche is a dream date, and Charlotte Greenwood does her high kick dance. The best part: Betty Grable is with a gigolo guide in Buenos Aires, and they go to a nightclub. All the acts are fine, but one exotic dancing couple really impress Betty. “Oh, they’re WONDERFUL! Please tell them they are the best I have ever seen!” The gigolo starts to tell them in Spanish, and gets blank stares. “Oh, we don’t speak Spanish. We’re from Syracuse!” I love it because it is a fun surprise, and because I lived in Syracuse, and because you can explain away any ignorance, like not knowing Spanish, just by saying you are from Syracuse. And everyone nods gravely, as if that accounts for everything.
I’ve never seen this movie but maybe I will one day. Would love to go to Argentina too some day.
I know what you mean about language – there’s a fairly common attitude in North America (El Norte to you) that all you need to know is English. Quebec excepted of course but even when living there in Montreal I recall meeting lots of people who only knew French and felt no need to know another language. Knowing only one language seems to limit your possibilities. I know French pretty well, some Spanish, and a few words (mostly swear or sex words) in a handful of other languages.
I though you were going to say you’d love to go to Syracuse some day…
Ummmmmm… no. Though I do have two friends in the Syracuse area that would be nice to see. But they can, as they have in the past, come visit me.
Syracuse is really a nice place. The winters are extremely rigorous, though. I just saw one of those lists of the 25 cities with the heaviest snowfall in one day, and Syracuse was number one. I remember we got four feet overnight once. But that is nothing compared to the Tug Hill plateau, just to the north, where some areas get 100 feet of snow in a season. Booneville, Watertown… Here in Guadalajara it snowed about 15 years ago. The first time since 1883.
I used to live in Montreal, I know a thing or two about lots of snow, icy wind, and brutal cold! It’s usually not quite as bad here on the coast but this last winter was a particularly rough one.
Snow in Guadalajara? Huh? I thought it was tropical there.
We are in the tropics, the same latitude as Hawaii. But we are a mile up. GDL almost never gets snow, but lots of the higher elevations in Mexico do, every year. The volcanoes to the south of here often have snow, especially el Nevado de Colima.
I didn’t realize Guadalajara was so high up in elevation. It looks fairly near the shore on maps. Never been there. My Mexican adventures have only included Acapulco, Cuernevaca, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Veracruz, Puebla and the whole region around Puebla. I don’t know about his living near volcanoes. Sounds iffy.