 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.McKenzie went on to appear in four additional Autry films as his leading lady