T. S. Eliot one of the most moving poems Eliot wrote, and perhaps the "most perfect", though it was not well received by everyone. The poem's groundwork of orthodox Christianity discomfited many of the more secular "literati". In 1939, Eliot published a book of light verse, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" ("Old Possum" was Ezra Pound's nickname for him). This first edition had an illustration of the author on the cover. In 1954, the composer Alan Rawsthorne set six of the poems for speaker and orchestra in a work titled "Practical Cats". After Eliot's death, the book was adapted as the basis
They Knew What They Wanted (film) in the role. Years later, in 1956, Frank Loesser turned the play into a semi-operatic musical entitled "The Most Happy Fella". This was not filmed, but was videotaped in 1980 and shown on PBS. They Knew What They Wanted (film) They Knew What They Wanted is a 1940 film directed by Garson Kanin, written by Robert Ardrey, and starring Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton and William Gargan. It is based on the 1924 Pulitzer Prize winning play "They Knew What They Wanted" by Sidney Howard. For his performance Gargan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. When visiting