The Circle (1925)
Directed by Frank Borzage

Film Review

Remarkably well preserved for a film of this era, The Circle serves as a good example of Frank Borzage's early period as a filmmaker, before he went on to make the masterpieces at Fox Studios which have earned him lasting recognition - timeless classics such as 7th Heaven (1927) and Lucky Star (1929).  A workmanlike but otherwise pretty uninspired adaptation of a popular play by the British writer William Somerset Maugham, the film shows little, if any, of the dramatic power and stylistic brilliance of Borzage's subsequent films and is little more than a filmed stage play, with virtually all of the action filmed in mid-shot.

Some fine opportunities for comedy are either botched or else needlessly underplayed, and so the film is more plodding and lacklustre than it deserves to be.  The film's charms, such as they are, lie almost entirely in the characterful contributions of its engaging cast.  Eugenie Besserer and George Fawcett are a particular delight as the dowdy mother-in-law and cantankerous interloper, whilst a future Hollywood icon makes her first screen appearance under the name that would make her immortal, Joan Crawford (previously, she had been credited under her real name, Lucille Fay LeSueur).  It was in another Somerset Maugham adaptation that Crawford would have one of her most memorable screen outings, as Miss Sadie Thompson in Lewis Milestone's Rain (1932).

Film Synopsis

In 1890, Lady Catherine makes up her mind to leave her aristocratic husband, Lord Clive Cheney, to start a new life with her lover, Hughes Porteous.   She leaves Cheney with a baby son which he must bring up alone.  Thirty years later, Cheney's son Arnold is married, but history is about to repeat itself as his wife Elizabeth is contemplating leaving him to elope with his friend Teddy Lutton.  Unsure whether she is doing the right thing, Elizabeth invites her mother-in-law and Porteous back to the Cheney estate to see whether their love has endured.  She is at first shocked to see the toll that time has taken on the two people.  Lady Catherine has lost her good looks and is quite a dowdy, garrulous old woman, whilst Porteous is sour tempered on account of his rheumatism and badly fitting false teeth.  And yet it is clear to Elizabeth that her mother-in-law is still a happy woman; her sacrifice of comfort and honour has not been in vain.  So, without further ado, Elizabeth persuades her lover to take her away.  Alas, Arnold has  anticipated this development and has his own plans...