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She Was the Other

1914 film by Arthur Hotaling

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ7492094
Source-derived summary

She Was the Other is a 1914 American split-reel silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Ed Lawrence, Oliver Hardy, and Mabel Paige.

Plot

The chief of police is tired of the sloppy appearance of his officers. A nearby police department has solved this problem by appointing a female inspector, so the chief decides to do the same, and he tells the men that his sister will be joining the department and inspecting them on Monday. The men are familiar with his fat sister Cutie and have no desire to look their best for her, so they show up to work in an even more disheveled state than usual. The inspector, however, turns out to be the chief's other sister, Helen, who is very attractive. When they see her, the embarrassed men run out of the station and return all spruced up.

Cast

Ed Lawrence - The Chief

Oliver Hardy - Cutie (billed as Babe Hardy)

Mabel Paige - Helen

Production and reception

She Was the Other was written by Epes W. Sargent and produced and directed by Arthur Hotaling, who was the general supervisor of the Jacksonville, Florida unit of the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia. It was a short split-reel comedy, lasting approximately five minutes and sharing a single reel of film with Cheap Transportation, an unrelated comedy starring, written and directed by Frank C. Griffin. The films were released by the General Film Company on November 17, 1914, and are among a group of short comedies made by the Lubin company in 1914 and early 1915 that include the earliest screen appearances of Oliver Hardy. Rob Stone points out that this is the first film in which Hardy played the role of a woman (as opposed to a man disguised as a woman).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “She Was the Other” as 1914 film by Arthur Hotaling. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Other, film and Arthur.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1914, 1915—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1914-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Other, film and Arthur providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “She Was the Other”, the useful work is to connect “1914 film by Arthur Hotaling” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7492094. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914 and 1915.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. 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.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “She Was the Other”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow She Was the Other primary sources, She Was the Other archive and Other research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “She Was the Other”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from She Was the Other” 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.