- The original director of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), he was replaced by Michael Curtiz when the production--Warners' most expensive up to that time--fell behind schedule and the studio didn't like the way the action sequences were turning out.
- Although he was born in Philadelphia, he joined a British theatrical company, the Ben Greet players, which had a three-week engagement in town. After playing some Shakespearean parts, Greet helped him acquire a British accent, which he retained for the rest of his life.
- He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
- His father was born in Keighly, England.
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 531-535. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- His last name is pronounced "Kee-lee", not, as is often mispronounced, "Kye-lee".
- His last job as a stage actor was substituting for an ill Henry Hull for a few weeks in "The Ivory Door" in 1928.
- He became an actor at age 17 while playing for a sandlot football team that needed new uniforms. it was decided to stage a play to raise the necessary funds, and Keighly was assigned the job of a prompter. When one of the actors dropped out of the production, he was pressed into replacing him.
- Spoke fluently French.
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