Tonight's Movie: They Met in Argentina (1941) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

Maureen O'Hara and James Ellison star in the RKO musical romance THEY MET IN ARGENTINA (1941), just released on DVD by the Warner Archive.

O'Hara plays Lolita O'Shea, whose father (Robert Barrat) owns a racehorse which Tim Kelly (James Ellison, THE GANG'S ALL HERE) is attempting to purchase for his boss (Robert Middlemass) while on a business trip to Argentina.

There's honestly not much more to the plot than that. Will standoffish O'Hara fall for Ellison? Will he buy the horse? The story is that basic.

THEY MET IN ARGENTINA is, sadly, a real snooze. O'Hara and Ellison meet in the first scene, then she completely disappears from the film for roughly 20 minutes while there's interminable discussion about buying the racehorse. The rest of the film goes on in similar fashion, alternating talky scenes -- which ironically don't say much -- with unmemorable music.

The pristine black and white shots of lovely Maureen, as filmed by J. Roy Hunt, can't compensate for the lack of a memorable story -- or pretty much any story -- and it's really difficult to believe the score, mostly performed by Buddy Ebsen and Diosa Costello, was composed by Rodgers and Hart. It's kind of a long 77 minutes.

The most interesting aspect of THEY MET IN ARGENTINA may simply be that it's an exemplar of the "Good Neighbor Policy" film of the early '40s, intended to help strengthen our relations with South American countries just before and during WWII. Other examples include the Fred Astaire musical YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER (1942) and Disney's "south of the border" films, SALUDOS AMIGOS (1942) and THE THREE CABALLEROS (1944).

"Good Neighbor" films weren't actually filmed on location -- though Disney artists did take a prolonged visit to South America, as seen in the documentary WALT AND EL GRUPO (2008) -- but were meant to engender positive feelings for our neighbors to the south among the American public.

The supporting cast includes Alberto Vila, Luis Alberni, and Fortunio Bonanova. Betty Jane Rhodes sings onscreen under the opening credits.

THEY MET IN ARGENTINA was directed by Leslie Goodwins and Jack Hively, who took over when Goodwins became ill.

The Warner Archive print is lovely. There are no DVD extras.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection at the WBShop or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.