1997 – “The Pedlar and the Doctor”. A 1997 biopic pitch based on General “Two-Gun” Cohen, and credited to Paolo Frere (aka Michael Alderton; 區大同)..jpg

The Pedlar and the Doctor, Hong Kong 1997 - General Morris Cohen and Doctor Sun Yat-sen (马坤和中山). The heroic, real-life story based upon Dr Sun Yat-sen and his revolutionary colleague, Morris A. Cohen.

THE SYNOPSIS

The Pedlar and the Doctor deals with the strange chain of events that bring a self-assured Cockney youth under the charismatic influence of a scholarly Chinese doctor who was destined to be revered as The Father of Modern China.

The reader is introduced to a Jewish pauper boy growing up in the slums of East London at the turn of the twentieth century. At the age of ten he is rescued from extreme poverty and disadvantage; and, with education, good health and a nurturing Jewish industrial school environment, was provided with the springboard that would launch him on one of the most fascinating and unusual military lives of modern times.

As a confident sixteen year old he travels to Canada where, some three years later, he joins a clandestine Chinese political brotherhood and swears eternal allegiance to its leader, Doctor Sun Yat-sen. This young immigrant then goes on to carve out an influential career for himself as a political worker in the Chinatowns of frontier Canada.

During the early 1920’s, and as a senior figure in Dr Sun’s representative organization in Canada, he is summoned to Canton where he serves as a devoted bodyguard and revolutionary comrade to the now famous Chinese leader, Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen.

Though a foreigner, he had found himself close to the centre of power at a pivotal stage in modern Chinese history; and, in recognition of his invaluable services to The Great Doctor and his cause, this former London pauper boy is entrusted to serve as adjutant general in Dr Sun Yat-sen’s Canton military headquarters.

Following his late February 1923 arrival at the Canton toe-hold, Dr Sun established his Southern Headquarters on a fortified island lying in the Pearl River just across a narrow stretch of water from the busy Canton waterfront, and it was from here that Colonel Morris Cohen would assume his new military duties. He knew that, at times, he would be required to travel with Dr Sun on board troop trains bound for the front lines, where they would join battles being simultaneously waged against Cantonese rebels in the east and warlord troops from the north. He realized also that, when he remained in Canton, he could expect to become involved in efforts to repel invaders who, on occasions, might come right up to the old city walls of Canton; and besides this, he knew that he would have to be constantly prepared for the very real threat posed by unreliable mercenary troops who were billeted within the confines of the city itself, and who were therefore at easy striking distance of Doctor Sun’s headquarters and residence. As things turned out, it would be on this southern battle-ground that Doctor Sun would spend the last two years of his adventurous and selfless life, and throughout this turbulent period Morris Cohen would almost constantly be by the Doctor’s side, and on hand to personally preserve his leader’s life on more than one occasion. (Composed by Michael Alderton 區大同 under the guidance of Paul Zimmerman 司馬文.)

The above extracts have been taken from: The Pedlar and the Doctor - General Morris Cohen and Doctor Sun Yat-sen (马坤和中山), held at:  (1) Michael Alderton 區大同 | University Of Sydney - Academia.edu

See also: Photos of Morris Abraham COHEN (aka Two-Gun) [1887-1970] | Gwulo

A film industry related comment from: Alderton, Michael, REAL to REEL: an exposition on the seventy-five yearlong, ever shifting, sometimes misinformed, motion picture initiatives whereby a London-born, picturesque heroic figure in real life might, over time, vainly be re-invented as a Polish-born, picaresque anti-hero for the screen.