Brothers Under the Skin
1922 film by E. Mason Hopper
Brothers Under the Skin is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by E. Mason Hopper. This picture survives in the Turner archives but is incomplete.
Plot
As described in a review in a film publication, Newton Craddock, a shipping clerk who makes $30 per week, loves his wife Millie even though she is running him into debt through her extravagance. Thomas Kirtland has the same problem with his wife Dorothy even though he makes $30,000 per year. After a fight with his wife, Newton decides to kill himself but is stopped by some wharf workers. Newton is given $5 to deliver a package to the Kirtlands' apartment and, after finding the door open, lets himself in. He sees some of Dorothy's expensive gowns hanging there and exchanges them for the cheap gowns that he had purchased as a peace offering to his wife. He also helps himself to some liquor and sits down, only to find that the Kirtlands have returned home. Dorothy is suspicious of her husband and during an exchange of strong words notes the gowns. Newton then comes forward to explain what happened.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Brothers Under the Skin” as 1922 film by E. Mason Hopper. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1922 film by E. Mason Hopper. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4975677. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Brothers Under the Skin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Brothers Under the Skin primary sources, Brothers Under the Skin archive and Brothers research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Brothers Under the Skin”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Brothers Under the Skin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.