 In 1940, McKenzie appeared in the stage show "Meet the People", which premiered in Los Angeles and ended up on Broadway.In 1941, the president of Republic Pictures, Herbert Yates, met McKenzie through a mutual friend, and after a screen test he signed her to a contract to appear opposite the cowboy singer Gene Autry in "Down Mexico Way" (1941) as Maria Elena Alvarado.The film was a major financial success, and she received a lot of fan mail as a result.