London's Kiss Korner and The Wedding of Joan Rice and David Green

The German press cutting

I recently discovered this German press article on E-bay showing Joan Rice and David Green cutting their wedding cake. The text is dated 17th February 1953 and I was curious as to what it might say.

Joan Rice and David Green were married at Maidenhead Register Office on the 16th February 1953 and the reception was held in Gables Lodge just outside Maidenhead. David was a film salesman (for a Hollywood company) and they met at a Christmas party shortly after Joan's return to England after filming His Majesty O'Keefe. It was a classic whirlwind romance. They were engaged on 15th January and married a month later!

The German press cutting has this:

Eine der hütschesten und beliebtesten englischen filmscau - spielerinnen ist - wenigstens vorlaufig - nichtmehr gu haben Joan Rice, 22 Jehre alt, hat den sohn des amerikanjschen filmechauspielers Harry Green, den 19 Jahrigen David Green, geheiratet. In November vergengenen jahres gab Joan die lösung ihrer verlobung mit Martin Boyce, sinem Ingenieur aus Denham, bekannt, und in December lernte sie David auf einer Christmas - party kennen. Unser Bild zeigt das frisohgetraute heper beim Anechneiden des Hochseitstorte in London.

I have no knowledge of German so I had to resort to the online Google translator. Below is the result of my translation:

One of the prettiest and most popular English actresses, Joan Rice aged 22 has married David Green the 19 year old son of American film actor Harry Green. In November last year Joan was engaged to Marin Boyce an engineer from Denham, but met David at a Christmas party. Our picture shows the newly-wed couple cutting their wedding cake in London.

This I believe is the basic meaning of the text, but I apologise to my readers for any inaccuracies in my translation.

David Green had been a public school heavyweight boxing champion before leaving Harrow. His father, according to various press cuttings, was Harry Green and some refer to him as being a film producer, but it seems this was not so. A while ago I received this email regarding Joan and David:

I was so happy to find that someone else was interested in Joan Rice. I left England in 1968 and have never heard of her since. My interest in her stems from the fact that I was lucky enough to have been invited to her house in Maidenhead for dinner in approx 1964 (I was about 12 at the time). My father knew her husband David Green through business dealings and we went as a family to spend a lovely evening. David’s father (Harry Green I think) was an accomplished magician and he showed us many tricks, mostly with cards. I think David dabbled in the magic as well. There was a large conservatory style room at the back of the house where we spent some time being entertained. I just wish someone had taken a photo of that occasion.  

Eamonn

Eamonn's message intrigued me so I decided to do some research into Harry Green. I discovered that David Green's father Harry, was born as Henry Blitzer in New York in 1892 . He trained as a lawyer, but was drawn to the vaudeville stage, where he became a popular magician and comedian across America and Australia. In Britain he appeared in such prestigious places as the Lyric Theatre in London, Theatre Royal in Belfast, the Royal in Dublin and the Alhambra in Glasgow.

Harry Green (1892-1958)

Soon Hollywood's 'talking pictures' attracted his talents and he took on the role of numerous stereotypical Jewish characters in movies such as  Why Bring That Up? (1929), The Kibitzer (1930) and Close Harmony (1931). Harry Green is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Jose Pedro Alesandro Lopez Rubenstein in She's Learned Something About Sailors (1934).

For the last ten years of his life Harry continued his movie career in England procuring character roles in three films, Joe Macbeth (1956), Charlie Chaplin's King in New York (1957) and Next To No Time (1958). He passed away in London in 1958.

From the scant information available it seems that in his later years Harry opened a club in London known as Kiss Korner. This became a popular haunt for celebrities of the time and they were often invited to kiss the walls and sign their autograph (which was duly varnished over for prosperity). It was at Kiss Korner that his son David was photographed with Joan Rice in 1953.

David Green and Joan Rice in Kiss Korner c.1953

Below is some fascinating film footage from 1953 by British Pathe showing Harry Green with his son David and daughter-in-law Joan Rice at his newly opened club:

I wonder where Kiss Korner was? And if the building still exists? If any reader has any information on Harry Green's club please get in touch at disneysrobin@googlemail.com.