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Rene Jordan
Rene
Jordan, film critic for El Nuevo Herald,
a Spanish version of The Miami Herald
, has been a member of the National
Board of Review since the late 1980's.
Born in Cuba, Rene can't remember if there
was ever a time that he wasn't intent
on a being a film critic.
NBR:
How did you start out?
RJ:
I reviewed and rated movies in
school copybooks and my reason for studying
at the Havana University School of Journalism
was to have a diploma that allowed me
to write professionally in Cuban newspapers
and magazines. They were very strict about
that and you had to be a graduate, but
one of my professors (a film critic himself)
liked my work and got me my first job
in the daily "El Pais"
[the highest circulation daily newspaper
in Havana], with a dispensation as a pre-graduate
in good standing. Good luck, I suppose,
but I owe this man, long dead, thanks
for the encouragement.
Fleeing
Castro-communism in 1960, Rene emigrated
to New York where he worked in the Foreign
Publicity and Subtitling department at
Universal Pictures.
NBR:
What was it like doing the subtitles for
American movies?
RJ:
I began subtitling on the side
for Columbia Pictures and I got all the
tough ones, especially the musicals 'cause
they said I had a knack for lyrics and
I wrote the Spanish songs for Oliver
, Funny Girl , Sweet
Charity , etc, etc. When the Foreign
Department at Universal merged with Paramount,
I decided to go on my own as a full time
freelancer and gun-for-hire to crack the
difficult Spanish translations, mostly
all of Columbia product but also some
MGM such as Victor/Victoria ,
and even a few Italian and French films
for Rizzoli.”
In
addition, Rene wrote three biographies
for Pyramid Publishing on Clark Gable,
Marlon Brando, and Gary Cooper.
NBR:
How did these books come about?
RJ:
Ted Sennett, editor of the series,
heard about me from a friend and I did
a test chapter for Gable . I was
immediately hired for that and the next
two others. But I was young and foolish
and so pleased as punch at being published
in English that I signed flat-fee contracts.
That enabled Pyramid to sell translation
rights all over (I never saw a dime).
I suffered reading the Spanish translation
of Brando (imagine catching typos
in my own native language) and the Italian
Gable had so many hilarious mistranslations
that I never finished reading it. As for
the German Cooper , I had no idea
it existed until one day at a coffee shop
in Munich I saw a guy reading that tome
VON Rene Jordan! I ran to the bookstore
where he'd picked it up and I keep it
as a relic since I've no idea what VON
RENE is saying!
The
bios were a success as their strength
led to an offer for Rene to write the
first book on Barbra Streisand in 1975.
Streisand/The Greatest Star
, was published in by Putnam in the
United States and W.H. Allen in the UK.
NBR:
Did you ever meet Barbra or hear
what she thought of the book?
RJ:
I never met her and though it is
extremely favorable to the lady, she hated
it because it revealed more stuff than
she wanted, through many interviews with
ex-friends,ex-collaborators, etc. Consider
me as her ex-biographer because I had
so much trouble with that book that I
swore never again to repeat my experiences
in book publishing. And when I hear
a Muzak Streisand record on an elevator,
I get off at the wrong floor!”
NBR:
And it was around this time El
Nuevo Herald started up?
RJ:
It was the Miami Herald's sister
publication in Spanish, with its
own independent staff. The chief editor
had very long memory and thus remembered
my early reviews in Cuba. I was able to
go back to what was my initial vocation
and I've been at it for El Nuevo
Herald ever since. Again, a
stroke of luck at the right time.”
NBR:
What are your top all time favorite
films?
RJ:
You may imagine it's a question
that's been posed through decades and
I developed a stock answer. MY FAVORITES
: Monday, Wednesday and Friday= Citizen
Kane
(dir.
Orson Welles) Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday=
The Rules of the Game (dir. Jean
Renoir) Sundays and Holidays=
Madame De...(dir. Max Ophuls)
NBR:
Anything fantastic that you have seen
so far this year?
RJ:
The House Keys by Gianni Amelio,
a masterpiece that will be Italy's submision
for next year's Oscar. I saw it in Toronto
and it's unlikely it will open commercially
in 2004, but, in my mind, it's this year's
movie.
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