The Circle

There's the gorgeous lady and her lover;there's the husband.One night ,she leaves him in a romantic manner...

But what follows happens thirty years after.And Frank Borzage tramples the golden principles underfoot .Gone is the old cliché,as old as the hills,of the romantic lovers.The beauty has become a sour-tempered pudgy old lady while the dashing attentive escort has grown into a grumpy sullen less-than-attractive greybeard.And finally it's the cheated husband who walks out with the honors:he has kept his dignity and he will do everything to spare his son the same fate as his.The characters,mainly in the card games sequence,are vividly depicted.

The Circle deserves more than the 6.7 star average it currently has on IMDB. Somerset Maughm has an astute handle on dysfunctional relationships and the cyclical nature of family patterns.

Although the ending is stilted and artificial to the modern audience, the quality of the lighting, camera work, and preservation itself makes this worth a watch. One could easily believe this was a recently made film intentionally made to look like a 1920's silent so it gives us a good chance to see what the real theater goer of that era could have enjoyed.

This is a very good silent film that tests out the old expression "Like father, like son".

When the film begins, Clive doesn't realize that his beloved wife, Catherine, is cheating on him. She unexpectedly runs away with Clive's best friend...leaving Clive and her young son to fend for themselves.

Thirty years pass. The son, Arnold, has married Elizabeth and while he doesn't realize it, trouble is brewing...similar to his parents. Elizabeth has invited Arnold's mother and step-father to their estate. But her reasons suck...she wants to find out how well things went for them following their affair. She has a romantic notion that the pair were deliriously happy...and she's contemplating running off with some young buckaroo herself. Fortunately, Clive is not supposed to be home during this meeting between mother and son--the first in 30 years. However, Clive DOES end up returning early and the reaction is NOT what everyone expected. He was very happy to see his wife and old friend...and harbors no bitterness! What about Arnold? Well, see the film and find out for yourself.

This is a very clever film that deals with adultery in a very grown up and realistic manner (at least in some ways). It also is very well written and acted...so if you think you'll hate silents, it's a good bet this one will keep you entertained.

In an opening flashback to the late 1890s, we see Joan Crawford (in a small early role, as young Catherine) deciding to leave her husband and run away with a lover. Thirty years later, the son she left behind is married to beautiful Eleanor Boardman (as Elizabeth). Like her mother-in-law, Ms. Boardman is contemplating running away with a lover - handsome Malcolm McGregor (as Edward "Teddy" Luton). Mistakenly thinking her father-in-law will be absent for the duration, Boardman has invited older lovers Eugenie Besserer and George Fawcett (as Catherine "Kitty" and Hugh "Hughie" Porteous) over for a visit...

"I want to see how runaway love wears after thirty years, If they're still happy, then…"

Naturally, original deserted husband Alec B. Francis (as Clive Cheney) arrives home unexpectedly. More startling surprises follow. Reportedly, MGM changed the ending of the original W. Somerset Maugham play; it is still amusing, but the alteration no longer fits the story's thesis. This is evident in the final scenes with Ms. Besserer and Mr. Fawcett, who act up a storm. Boardman, stuffy husband Creighton Hale (as Arnold Cheney) and the others are fine, too. There is outstanding work from director Frank Borzage, photographer Chester A. Lyons and the "Cheney Castle" MGM production crew. Happily, a beautiful print survives.

******* The Circle (9/22/25) Frank Borzage ~ Eleanor Boardman, Eugenie Besserer, George Fawcett, Malcolm McGregor

From director Frank Borzage, based on a play by W. Somerset Maugham. Eleanor Boardman stars as Elizabeth Cheney, recently married to Arnold (Creighton Hale) but secretly in love with the handsome Teddy (Malcolm McGregor), Arnold's best friend. Everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of guests: Arnold's mother Kitty (Eugenie Besserer) and her second husband Hughie (George Fawcett). The trouble is, Kitty ran away with Hughie years ago, leaving Arnold's father Clive (Alec B. Francis) devastated. How will everyone react when they're all together again, and will Elizabeth follow in the footsteps of Kitty and run away with the best man?

This would have been pretty stultifying even if there was sound, but without the dialogue to lean on, the film is a static exercise in facial expressions as people sit in one of two rooms. None of the performers stood out, and this is the third film I've watched McGregor in in a week's time, and he has yet to impress. Joan Crawford has one of her earliest roles as the young Kitty shown in flashback.