Podcast Summary: The Gunrunner Who Tried to Save China – Two Gun Cohen

Podcast: The Underworld Podcast
Hosts: Danny Gold & Sean Williams
Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the extraordinary life of Morris “Two Gun” Cohen, a Jewish kid from the slums of London who transformed himself into a notorious underworld figure, bodyguard to the father of modern China, and an international arms dealer involved in some of the most turbulent moments of 20th-century Chinese history. The hosts, Danny Gold and Sean Williams, weave Cohen’s legend together with broader crime and political histories, offering perspective on disarray in China between the wars, western colonial politics, and the world of transnational arms trafficking.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dramatic Cold Open: Hong Kong, 1941

• [00:32]
  • Set at the outbreak of war in Hong Kong: “Morris Two Gun Cohen is sitting in his room at the Hong Kong hotel awaiting his fate.”
  • The hosts liken pre-war Hong Kong to the movie Casablanca—full of spies, adventurers, and gun-runners—with Cohen as a real-life Rick.

2. From Pogroms to Slums: The Early Life of Cohen

• [06:30]
  • Born into anti-Jewish violence in Russian-ruled Ukraine (now Kropyvnytskyi), Cohen’s family flees to London’s Jewish slums.
  • Cohen grows up hustling, boxing in underground matches at nine, then turning to pickpocketing and burglary.
  • Sent to a religious reformatory: “He learns a lot of skills, a lot of outdoor stuff, agricultural stuff, building stuff.” ([09:55])

3. Hard Times and Western Canadian Frontiers

• [10:31]
  • Parents send Cohen to pioneer farming in Saskatchewan: “The best education in crime a guy could ask for.” ([12:03])
  • Befriends cowboys, learns hustling, dice, pistols, carnival cons, and becomes a barker for a traveling circus.

4. The Canadian Underworld and the Chinese Connection

• [12:44]
  • Lands in Winnipeg (“the Chicago of the North”) and later Saskatoon, getting tied up in crime, jail, and the Chinese immigrant’s gambling dens.
  • Forms deep ties with the local Chinese community after saving a tong leader from a robbery:

  “After this, he’s basically a local legend in the Chinese community. … He even picks up speaking Cantonese.” ([15:39])
  • Introduced to Chinese revolutionary politics and Sun Yat-sen’s movement.

5. Revolution, Warlords, and Political Intrigue in China

• [22:23]
  • Becomes a key supporter and trainer for Chinese revolutionary tongs in Canada.
  • After WWI experience as a sergeant managing Chinese laborers, returns to his advocacy for the Chinese Nationalist Party.
  • In 1922, seeking adventure, Cohen sets out for a chaotic, warlord-ruled China.

6. Rise to Bodyguard and Adventurer in Canton

• [24:55]
  • Meets Sun Yat-sen in Shanghai and is appointed bodyguard.
  • “Sun is powerful. … Many think he was sent to divinely rescue and revolutionize China … And there’s many powerful people who want him dead.” ([25:56])
  • Trains Sun’s bodyguards in boxing and firearms, surviving wounds, and learning to shoot ambidextrously—thus earning the nickname “Two Gun.”

  “He starts training with his left hand, determined to be just as deadly with either. He begins carrying a second Smith and Wesson .45. And that’s when people start calling him Two Gun Cohen.” ([28:52])

7. Wild South China and The Underworld

• [29:47]
  • Immersed in espionage, violence, and high-rolling hedonism in Canton and Hong Kong.
  • Rumors swirl in the Western media of Cohen as everything from China’s true leader to a major Communist adversary.
  • Linkages between criminal syndicates (the Green Gang, 15,000-150,000 members), triads, and political factions are explored.

  “The Green Gang … the most powerful criminal organization in China … dominate prostitution rackets, opium rackets, extortion, gambling, the usual.” ([33:44])

8. Arms Dealing and International Intrigue

• [34:55]
  • Cohen becomes “Mr. 5%,” a fixer and gunrunner supplying weapons and even patrol boats against Chinese pirates.
  • Deals in rifles, heavy weapons, planes, and anti-aircraft guns for various warlords and military leaders.
  • Celebrated as a charismatic intermediary:

  “He was well versed in ways to do things. He was an ideal man for them. … He knew everything. He knows everyone. He knows what’s happening, who to talk to, how to arrange it.” ([40:13])

9. The Onset of World War II

• [45:44]
  • As Japan invades, Cohen works to funnel money, fuel, and weaponry from Hong Kong to Chinese resistance.
  • Describes pre-siege revelry: “It’s one of those wartime, we might all die, so let’s party situations.” ([49:39])
  • When the Japanese take Hong Kong, Cohen is captured, questioned, and sent to brutal internment camps:

  “Prisoners starve, some lose 60 pounds. … Cohen becomes known for watching over the women and the children in the camp, trying to make sure they had enough food. And he’s in his late 50s then.” ([53:20])

10. War’s End, Political Complexity, and Legacy

• [54:13]
  • Released from internment via a prisoner exchange; returns as a hero to Canada and the Chinese/Jewish communities.
  • Post-war attempts to fight the Japanese thwarted by reputation and criminal record.
  • Returns to China for the civil war, but eventually refuses to chooses sides:

  “He actually refuses to take sides in China versus Taiwan because he says he has too many friends on either side.” ([54:58]) • Dies in 1970 after a later-life surge from a cult autobiography and a (loose) Kevin Costner movie.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cohen as a product of his environment:

  "London thieves, cowboys, and now carnies. It’s the best education in crime a guy could ask for.” – Danny ([12:44])

• On ethnic inter-group prejudice:

  “The number one way to tell that you’re getting in with a different race or ethnic or religious group, it’s when they teach you what 97% similar group they are super racist against and hate as well.” – Danny ([16:41])

• On unglamorous reality of arms smuggling:

  “Most things in life, it’s just logistics, you know, Excel spreadsheets and phone calls.” – Danny ([20:17])

• On Cohen’s “two gun” moment:

  “He starts training with his left hand … begins carrying a second Smith and Wesson .45. And that’s when people start calling him Two Gun Cohen.” – Danny ([28:52])

• On internecine violence in China:

  “It’s basically just everyone massacring everyone else whenever they get the chance. And that’s pretty much actually most of history, like prior to 1950, across the world.” – Danny ([35:44])

• On the party scene in 1930s Shanghai:

  “Shanghai was apparently a gigantic party city in the 1930s. Tons of cabarets and casinos and nightclubs, 100,000 prostitutes. Maybe a little bit of like a Babylon Berlin thing going on, because there’s a whole lot of intrigue and everyone knows war is coming.” – Danny ([41:25])

• On his internment during the Japanese occupation:

  “He keeps people’s spirits up with his optimism. … He tells stories, he’s still entertaining.” – Danny, on Cohen’s leadership in the camp ([53:20])

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:32] – Two Gun Cohen’s situation during the Japanese siege of Hong Kong, WWII context set.
• [09:47] – Cohen’s early hustling years in London and his move to Canada.
• [15:39] – Cohen forms bonds with Chinese immigrant gamblers, learns Cantonese, becomes a local hero.
• [24:55] – Travels to China, becomes Sun Yat-sen’s bodyguard.
• [28:52] – Cohen is wounded and adopts two-gun style, earning the nickname.
• [33:44] – Explains the Green Gang’s criminal influence in 1920s/30s China.
• [40:13] – Details Cohen’s role as an international arms dealer and his growing myth.
• [45:44] – The Japanese invasion, collapse of Hong Kong, Cohen’s internment and survival.
• [54:13] – Cohen’s post-war life, return to China, refusal to choose sides, lasting legacy.

Conclusion

The episode paints a vivid, larger-than-life portrait of Two Gun Cohen—a hustler, mercenary, gambler, diplomat, arms dealer, and fixer who made himself indispensable to both underworld figures and revolutionary leaders through sheer audacity, loyalty, and guile. Cohen's life serves as a lens for the convergence of organized crime and global history, demonstrating how murky the boundaries were (and are) between the state, the underworld, and grand historical change. The hosts balance historical analysis with banter, keeping the tone brisk and irreverent, and the storytelling cinematic.

For further reading, the hosts recommend Daniel S. Levy’s biography of Morris “Two Gun” Cohen and promise future episodes on some of the triads, warlords, and organized crime groups who intersected with Cohen’s journey across continents and decades.