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6.  KEEPS IN ENTERTAINMENT
THE KEEP FAMILY CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIETY
ISABEL LOVITT KEEP,  ACTRESS   Page 1
 
(Stage Names:  Isabelle KEEP, Isabelle KEITH, and Claudelle KAYE)

Isabel Lovitt Keep was born on 27 May 1898 in Omaha, Nebraska; however, her film biography gives her birth place as New York. She was the daughter of Oscar Leonard Keep and his second wife Sophie Dora (Westfall) Keep. Following his second marriage, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1906 where Oscar was an Executive Chef in one of Los Angeles' fine dining restaurants. He died there two years later.

Isabel was a former concert singer, and became an American silent screen actress making her screen debut for Mack Sennett in 1918, and appeared in nine of his films. Mack Sennett founded the Keystone Studios at Edendale, California, in 1912. His slapstick comedies, renowned for their car chases and custard pie fights, earned him the title of "King of Comedy". His films also featured a bevy of attractive girls, who became collectively known as the “Sennett Bathing Beauties”. At the start of her career she used her real name of lsabel Keep, and she was a busy supporting player.

Isabel moved to Al Christie’s Christie Film Company. The studio produced situational comedy rather than the slapstick that other studios were turning out, but it did follow its competitors by incorporating girls in skimpy costumes. Soon after she joined the studio, Al Christie was critical about her name, which was changed to Isabelle Keith. After leaving the Christie Film Company, she worked in nearly every studio in Hollywood and New York, included Fox, Universal and MGM, all in a supporting role. With the advent of the talkies, Isabel found her career waning, and decided to change her stage name to Claudelle Kaye.

Left:  A scene from "Be Big!" where the wives, Isabel Keith and Anita Garvin demonstrate their annoyance with their husbands, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy.

 

 

She played in films starring Rudolph Valentino, James Stewart, Jack Benny, Clark  Gable, Mickey Rooney, Ben Turpin, Ronald Colman, Boris Karloff, Greta Garbo, Stan  Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Isabel also appeared with Teddy the Dog or "Keystone  Teddy" the Wonder Dog. The lightly marked brindle Great Dane featured in   approximately 18 films, and was allegedly one of Sennett's highest paid "actors,"  earning US$350.00 a week. Isabel’s Filmography is given below:

 

“NO MOTHER TO GUIDE HIM” also known as “THE LESSON STORY” (working   title): Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars:  Myrtle LIND and Heinie  CONKLIN: Isabelle KEEP played a household necessity: MACK SENNETT  COMEDIES: Directed by Erle C. KENTON, and Malcolm St. CLAIR: Released: 8 Jun  1919

“HEARTS AND FLOWERS”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Louise  FAZENDA, Ford STERLING, Phyllis HAVER, and Teddy the Dog: Isabelle KEEP as  Isabelle KEITH played a Bathing Beauty (uncredited): MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by Edward F. CLINE: Released: 22 Jun 1919

“TRYING TO GET ALONG”: Silent: Black and White: Genres:  Comedy: Stars: Charles MURRAY, Charlotte MINEAU, Kalla PASHA and Ben TURPIN: Isabelle  KEEP as Isabelle KEITH (uncredited): MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by F.  Richard JONES: Released: 6 Jul 1919

“A LADY'S TAILOR”: Silent: Black and White: Genres:  Comedy: Stars: Ford  STERLING, Harriet HAMMOND, Eva THATCHER and Ben TURPIN: Isabelle KEEP  as Isabelle KEITH: MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by Ray GREY, and Erle  C. KENTON: Released: 7 Dec 1919

“UNCLE TOM WITHOUT A CABIN”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars:  Ben TURPIN, Chester CONKLIN and Marie PREVOST: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle  KEITH: MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by Edward F. CLINE, and Ray  HUNT: Released: 31 Aug 1919

“UP IN ALF'S PLACE”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Charles  MURRAY, Charlotte MINEAU and James FINLAYSON: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle  KEITH bit part (uncredited): MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by F. Richard  JONES: Released: 12 Oct 1919

“THE GINGHAM GIRL”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Louise  FAZENDA, Bert ROACH and Eva THATCHER:  Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH:  MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by James D. DAVIS Released: 18 Apr 1920

“BY GOLLY”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Charles MURRAY,  Fanny KELLY and Joseph BELMONT: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH: MACK  SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by Charles MURRAY: Released: 6 Jun 1920

“STRIKING MODELS”:  Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Fay  TINCHER, Eddie BARRY and William SLOAN: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH:  CHRISTIE FILM COMPANY: Directed by Reggie MORRIS: Released: 19 Sep 1920  

 

“THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Drama/Romance/War: Stars: Rudolph VALENTINO, Alice TERRY and Pomeroy CANNON: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH German Woman (uncredited): In 1995 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant": METRO PICTURES CORPORATION: Directed by Rex INGRAM: Released: 6 Mar 1921

 

“SHE SIGHED BY THE SEASIDE”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Ben TURPIN, Marie PREVOST and Heinie CONKLIN: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH: MACK SENNETT COMEDIES: Directed by Erle C. KENTON: Released: 8 May 1921

“THE DESERT FLOWER”: Silent: Black and White: Genres:  Western: Stars: Colleen MOORE, Lloyd HUGHES and Kate PRICE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Inga HULVERSON: FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES: Directed by Irving CUMMINGS: Released: 21 Jun 1925

Isabel appeared in 42 films between 1919 and 1936. In “Manhattan Melodrama” starring Clark Gable, she played William Powell's secretary and reportedly shared the same makeup artist with Jean Harlow. The film is also noted as the picture that John Dillinger, the American gangster and bank-robber, watched in July 1934 at the Chicago's Biograph Theater just before he walked out into the FBI's fatal ambuscade.

             Right:  The Biograph Theater in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood

 

“THE GREATER GLORY” also known as “THE VIENNESE MEDLEY”, the title of Edith O'Shaughnessy's novel on which it is based: Silent: Black and White: Genres:  Drama/Romance/War: Stars: Conway TEARLE, Anna Q. NILSSON and May ALLISON:  Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Anna Birbach, Pauli's Wife: FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES: Directed by Curt REHFELD: Released: 2 May 1926

 

 “THE CLINGING VINE”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Leatrice JOY, Tom MOORE and Robert EDESON: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a House Guest (uncredited): DeMILLE PICTURES CORPORATION: Directed by Paul SLOANE: Released: 6 Sep 1926

“THE NIGHT OF LOVE”:  Silent: Black and White: Genres: Action/Adventure/Romance: Stars: Ronald COLMAN, Vilma BÁNKY and Montagu LOVE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a Wedding Banquet Guest (uncredited): THE SAMUEL GOLDWYN COMPANY: Directed by George FITZMAURICE: Released: 22 Jan 1927

 

“THE KING OF KINGS”:  Silent: Black and White: Genres: Drama/History:  Stars: H. B. WARNER, Dorothy CUMMING and Ernest TORRENCE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH (uncredited):  The Temple of Jerusalem set was used as the "Great Wall" set that the title character breaks through in King Kong. It was later reused in David O. Selznick's "The Garden of Allah" and finally went out in a blaze of glory with Civil War era building fronts, burned and pulled down to represent the burning of Atlanta munitions warehouses in “GONE WITH THE WIND”: Anachronisms: When the blind girl is pulled through the window, she is seen wearing modern underwear: DeMILLE PICTURES CORPORATION:  Directed by Cecil B. DeMILLE:  Produced by Cecil B. DeMILLE: Released: 19 Apr 1927

“VERY CONFIDENTIAL”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy/Romance: Stars: Madge BELLAMY, Patrick CUNNING and Mary DUNCAN: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Adelaide Melbourne: FOX FILM CORPORATION: Directed by James TINLING: Released: 6 Nov 1927

“HER WILD OAT”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Colleen MOORE, Larry KENT and Hallam COOLEY: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a Hotel Guest (uncredited): The screenplay is based on a story by Howard Irving Young: The film was lost until a copy was found by Hugh Neely in the Czech National Film Archive in 2001 and subsequently restored by the Academy Film Archive: FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES: Directed by Marshall NEILAN: Produced by John McCORMICK: Release Date: 25 Dec 1927

“RILEY THE COP”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy/Drama: Stars: J. Farrell MacDONALD, Nancy DREXEL and David ROLLINS: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a French Woman on Pier (uncredited): It was a silent film with a synchronized music track: Directed by John FORD (uncredited): Produced by John FORD: FOX FILM CORPORATION: Released: 25 Nov 1928

 

“ANNE AGAINST THE WORLD”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Drama: Stars: Shirley  MASON, Jack MOWER, James BRADBURY Jr. and Boris KARLOFF:  Isabelle KEEP as  Isabelle KEITH played Teddy: TREM CARR PICTURES: Directed by Duke WORNE: Release Date: 1 May 1929

“LEAPING LOVE”: Mono (Western Electric System): Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Charley CHASE, Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Betty Haley/Mother and Dixie GAY: HAL ROACH STUDIOS: Directed by Warren DOANE: Released: 22 Jun 1929

“PERFECT DAY”: Mono (Western Electric System): Black and White: Genres: Comedy:  Stars: Stan LAUREL, Oliver HARDY and Edgar KENNEDY: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Mrs. Laurel: Continuity error: Though Stan and Ollie never do manage to fix the flat tyre; it's in good condition by the end of the film:  HAL ROACH STUDIOS: Directed by James Parrott Released: 10 Aug 1929

 

 “BARNUM WAS RIGHT”: Silent: Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars Glenn TRYON, Merna KENNEDY and Otis HARLAN: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Phoebe O'Dare: The film saw the debut of Basil RADFORD: UNIVERSAL PICTURES:  Directed by Del LORD: Released: 22 Sep 1929

“THEIR OWN DESIRE”: Mono (Western Electric System): Black and White: Genres: Drama/Romance: Stars: Norma SHEARER, Belle BENNETT, and Lewis STONE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Polo Player/Snooty Dinner Guest (uncredited): The film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Sarita FULLER:  Norma SHEARER was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film, but received it for another of her films “THE DIVORCEE”: METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM):  Directed by E. Mason HOPPER Released: 27 Dec 1929

“VIENNESE NIGHTS”: Vitaphone (Western Electric Sound System):  Colour (Technicolor): Genres: Musical: Stars: Vivienne SEGAL, Alexander GRAY and Jean HERSHOLT: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Franz’s Rejected Girlfriend (uncredited):  Although not a box office hit in the USA, the film had long box office runs in England and Australia: WARNER BROS. PICTURES: Directed by Alan CROSLAND: Produced by Richard ROGERS: Released: 26 Nov 1930

 

“BE BIG!”:  Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Stan LAUREL, Oliver HARDY and Anita GARVIN: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Mrs. Hardy: HAL ROACH STUDIOS: Directed by James PARROTT: Produced by Hal ROACH:  Released: 7 Feb 1931

“SPRING IS HERE”: Vitaphone (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Comedy/Musical/Romance: Stars: Lawrence GRAY, Alexander GRAY and Bernice CLAIRE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a Blonde Party Guest with Bess (uncredited): FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES: Released: 13 Apr 1930

“MATA HARI”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres Drama/Romance: Stars: Greta GARBO, Ramon NOVARRO and Lionel BARRYMORE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a Party Guest (uncredited):  The film is to a point based on the life of Mata HARI (the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida ZELLE), an exotic dancer/courtesan executed for espionage during World War One: The film was censored upon its reissue in May 1939, by virtue of the  Motion Picture Production Code or Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor Will H. HAYS - the seduction scene of Lt. ROSANOFF by Mata HARI, was cut: METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by George FITZMAURICE: Produced by George FITZMAURICE and Irving THALBERG: Released: 26 Dec 1931

“A NIGHT IN CAIRO” original title “THE BARBARIAN”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres Adventure/Drama/Romance: Stars: Ramon NOVARRO, Myrna LOY and Reginald DENNY: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a Train Passenger (uncredited): METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by Sam WOOD: Produced by Sam WOOD: Released: 2 May 1933

“RING UP THE CURTAIN“ original title “BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: History/Musical: Stars: Alice BRADY, Frank MORGAN, Jackie COOPER, Mickey ROONEY and Jimmy DURANTE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Jenny Carter, Girl in Movie Clip (uncredited): METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by Willard MACK: Released: 15 Sep 1933

“DANCING LADY”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres:  Musical/Comedy/Romance: Stars: Joan CRAWFORD, Clark GABLE, and Franchot TONE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played Miss ALLEN, secretary (uncredited): The film is based on the novel of the same name by James Warner BELLAH, published in 1932: Fred ASTAIRE made his screen debut. Also it was the first credited film appearance of Nelson EDDY, and an early feature film appearance of the Three Stooges (Moe HOWARD, Curly HOWARD, and Larry FINE): Continuity error:  While chasing Patch, Janie is splashed by mud from a passing car; when she emerges from a cab moments later, her shoes and stockings are clean. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by Robert Z. LEONARD: Produced by John W. CONSIDINE Jr. and David O. SELZNICK: Released: 24 Nov 1933

“THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Crime/Drama/Romance: Stars: Otto KRUGER, Una MERKEL and Ben LYON: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a nurse (uncredited): METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by George B. SEITZ: Released: 8 Dec 1933

“AIR FRIGHT”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Comedy: Stars: Thelma TODD, Patsy KELLY and Don BARCLAY: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a passenger (uncredited): HAL ROACH STUDIOS: Directed by Gus MEINS: Released: 23 Dec 1933

“YOU CAN'T BUY EVERYTHING”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Drama/Romance: Stars: May ROBSON, Jean PARKER and Lewis STONE: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a nurse at the clinic (uncredited): COSMOPOLITAN PRODUCTIONS & METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by Charles REISNER:  Released: 26 Jan 1934

MEN IN WHITE”: Mono (Western Electric Sound System): Black and White: Genres: Drama/Romance: Stars: Clark GABLE, Myrna LOY and Jean HERSHOLT: Isabelle KEEP as Isabelle KEITH played a nurse at the clinic (uncredited): The original Broadway production of "Men in White" by Sidney KINGSLEY opened on September 26, 1933 at the Broadhurst Theatre, ran for 351 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1934: The Legion of Decency stated that the film was unfit for public exhibition, because of the suggested illicit romance and abortion. COSMOPOLITAN PRODUCTIONS & METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM): Directed by Ryszard BOLESLAWSKI:  Produced by Monta BELL: Released: 6 Apr 1934

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