Lawrence Cowen

Laurence Cohen was a UK scriptwriter, playwright, film and theatre director and author. His '"Wake Up!": A Dream of To-morrow' (1915) is a near-future invasion tale which avoids direct reference to World War One by giving the invading nation the imaginary name of Vaevictia; before its publication, a film version, "Wake Up!" (1914) directed by Cowen, was released, seemingly taken from Cowen's pre-existing text, likely in manuscript form. His second novel of interest, '"It is for England!": A Romance of our own Times' (1917; rev vt The Hidden Hand 1918), seems to be a straight novelization of his script for "It is for England!" (1916) directed by Cowen. In the tale, a reincarnated Saint George exposes a bad baronet as a German spy, directly causing the end of the War, and the regicide of the Kaiser at the hands of his fellow Germans. Lawrence Cowen appeared at the Vacation Court on Wednesday 23 August 1918 in an attempt to gain an injunction to stop Ernest C. Rolls performing "The Hidden Hand". He complained that prominent public persons had been conscripted into altering, rewriting and generally improving his play.