This MGM film, directed by Frank Borzage (7th HEAVEN, STREET ANGEL, etc.), and adapted from a stage play by Somerset Maugham, is a prime example of the drawing-room drama. The sets are sumptuous, the actors beautiful, the set-up intriguing, but the finish is a complete cop-out. I'm not familiar with Maugham's play, but from what I understand, the story does not end the way this filmed version does. In fact, the carefully established symmetry of the narrative (i.e. the "circle" alluded to by the title) is completely undone by Borzage's forced "happy" ending.
To his credit, Borzage engages in some elegant direction, mostly successful in the difficult task of making a stage play visually interesting on film. The cast also aids in making this comedy-drama appealing. Special mention should be made of the actors making up the "older" generation (Alec B. Francis, George Fawcett, and Eugenie Besserer). Their characters are in fact much more interesting and sympathetic than those of their younger counterparts. The standout scene is the one where Besserer wistfully looks at a picture of herself as she was 30 years earlier (the younger version of her character is played by an uncredited Joan Crawford), and Fawcett's somewhat surprising response. There's real humanity on display in that scene.
Eleanor Boardman does fine work, as usual, and looks lovely, but her character's motivations are somewhat vague. Creighton Hale's rather milquetoast character doesn't allow for much view sympathy, and Malcolm McGregor's character--well, he's certainly handsome, but that's about it.
What remains are some somewhat amusing scenes played for laughs (the gun scene, the bridge scene), a lot of talk through intertitles (I can imagine the stage play must have been quite witty), and a completely inexplicable conclusion. Really, I was following this storyline very closely until the end, when it just left me baffled. Too bad, because this would have been a nice chamber drama if the ending hadn't been sanitized.
To his credit, Borzage engages in some elegant direction, mostly successful in the difficult task of making a stage play visually interesting on film. The cast also aids in making this comedy-drama appealing. Special mention should be made of the actors making up the "older" generation (Alec B. Francis, George Fawcett, and Eugenie Besserer). Their characters are in fact much more interesting and sympathetic than those of their younger counterparts. The standout scene is the one where Besserer wistfully looks at a picture of herself as she was 30 years earlier (the younger version of her character is played by an uncredited Joan Crawford), and Fawcett's somewhat surprising response. There's real humanity on display in that scene.
Eleanor Boardman does fine work, as usual, and looks lovely, but her character's motivations are somewhat vague. Creighton Hale's rather milquetoast character doesn't allow for much view sympathy, and Malcolm McGregor's character--well, he's certainly handsome, but that's about it.
What remains are some somewhat amusing scenes played for laughs (the gun scene, the bridge scene), a lot of talk through intertitles (I can imagine the stage play must have been quite witty), and a completely inexplicable conclusion. Really, I was following this storyline very closely until the end, when it just left me baffled. Too bad, because this would have been a nice chamber drama if the ending hadn't been sanitized.