whole thing is blown apart, collapses andrnbursts into flames.”rnFreddie Young’s two most challengingrnachievements were filming the storm inrnRyan’s Daughter and the mirage inrnLawrence of Arabia, histead of shootingrnthe storm with fire hoses and wind machines,rnthe crew filmed a real tempest onrnthe rugged Irish coast. “We were all inrnwet suits,” Young told Lean’s biographerrnKevin Brownlow (who preempted somernmaterial from Young’s unpublishedrnmanuscript). “The camera was chainedrnto a rock and it was as much as you couldrndo to hold on to the tripod and crouchrnagainst the wind.”rnSuggesting the burning cauldron ofrnthe mirage shot. Young told Brownlowrnthat, when filming Lawrence of Arabia inrnthe Jordanian desert, “Light conditionsrnwere a constant surprise, and peculiarrnphenomena such as spirals of sand,rncalled dust devils, would arise from therndesert and, whirled by some heat currentsrnof air, travel rapidly at us in a longrnsideways column, taking sunshades andrnother paraphernalia with them.”rnIn his own book, Young explainedrnhow he managed to capture the illusionrnwith a special lens: “A mirage in therndesert is always seen in the distance, lookingrnas though the sea is lying on top of thernsand. With a telephoto lens you can filmrnthis in close-up, which enables the audiencernto see details of the heatwave andrnthe blueness invisible to the naked eye.”rnOn the screen, you see “first the mirage,rnthen on the horizon a shimmering dot ofrna figure. As he comes closer you get a distortedrnimage of his camel trotting, itrnseems, through water, and finally a clearrnview of Omar Sharif [playiirg Sherif Ali]rnapproaching the last few yards.” The miragernnot only dramatizes the appearancernof Sherif Ali as Lawrence and hisrnBedouin guide rest at the alien wateringrnhole, but the three-minute, almost-silentrnsequence leads to a violent confrontationrnand illustrates the fierce passions of therndesert—perhaps the most stunning sequencernin the history of cinema. Nowadays,rnYovmg regretfully observes, so manyrnvisual effects are done digitally in postproductionrnthat a great deal of creativityrnhas been taken away from the cameraman.rnJeffrey Meyers, biographer of Hemingway,rnFitzgerald, and Frost, and a Fellow of thernRoyal Society of Literature, will publish arnlife of Orwell with Norton next September.rnStanding on the Starrn(Montgomery 1996)rnFor Michael Hillrnby ]ames Everett KiblerrnIt takes presumption.rnSome at least.rnThis standing where Jeff Davis stoodrnTo lead new land along its way.rnWe stand todayrnAnd view Montgomery’srnPuzzled modern plastic promenadernOf jagged towerrnPock-marked road.rnOf jumble of confused fagadernAnd engine cry alarm.rnWhere are her forest’s trees?rnAnd where clean rivers and her streams.rnAnd where her fertile, life-sustaining rows?rnA people in her crisisrnDart betweenrnThe rows of trafficrnStreaming lethal unseen smoke,rnTo take defense behind an alien steel and glassrnHermetically encased.rnA land drained barernBy her oppressor’s wrong.rnPut in its cage of iron.rnHands at bars.rnNo fountain at the base of avenuernCan issue forth the waters to revive —rnNot in this landscapernOf the dispossessed.rnAnd yet the star survives.rnJeff Davis knew what he was standing for,rnAnd standing on.rnIn standing here, we know it too.rnNo five sharp-pointed pentagramrnBut six, symmetric, gleaming gold.rnWorn smooth by pilgrim feetrnAnd will be polished bright by minernWhen bared of leather and machine-made sole.rnThe magic lies in proper pilgrim feetrnAnd spirit of the soil beneathrnTo breathe of inspirationrnIn the pilgrim soul.rnWe free that spirit topped with stone.rnA hard-paved street in asphaltrnNever can inspire.rnNo jumble of fagadesrnThat know not who or whence they arernCan pass the muster of the yearsrnAnd yield their grace to time.rnThe soil will wait as long as mustrnBut will at last itself have way.rnWe stand upon the star.rnIn bondage view and do.rnAnd with God’s promise of delivery.rnOur time we wait and pray.rn32/CHRONICLESrnrnrn