THE CIRLCE is a charming little film, full of humor and ironies.
Based on a play by Somerset Maugham, THE CIRCLE is a handsome film directed by Frank Borzage. The film opens in the 1890s as Lady Catherine is about to leave her husband (and son) and run off with her lover. The scene dissolves to 30 years later where young Elizabeth (pretty Eleanor Boardman) is facing the same decision: dull husband (Creighton Hale) or dashing lover (Malcolm McGregor). To make matters worse, Lady Catherine has been invited (along with husband) to visit! As Boardman and company get ready for their guests we get several shots of Lady Catherine and husband motoring toward the country estate. The shots are from the back. So it's a slight shock when Lady Catherine breezes into the house and goes up to McGregor, thinking he's her son. Lady Catherine (superbly played by Eugenie Besserer) is seen to be a rather silly middle-aged dowager wearing too much makeup.
As the story progresses, Boardman starts to learn a lesson in romantic folly from the fading older woman who constantly gazes at an old photograph of herself (it's actually a photo of 20-year-old Joan Crawford who also plays the young Lady Catherine one of about a half dozen films she appeared in in 1925).
Co-stars include Alec B. Francis, George Fawcett, and Eulalie Jensen.
Based on a play by Somerset Maugham, THE CIRCLE is a handsome film directed by Frank Borzage. The film opens in the 1890s as Lady Catherine is about to leave her husband (and son) and run off with her lover. The scene dissolves to 30 years later where young Elizabeth (pretty Eleanor Boardman) is facing the same decision: dull husband (Creighton Hale) or dashing lover (Malcolm McGregor). To make matters worse, Lady Catherine has been invited (along with husband) to visit! As Boardman and company get ready for their guests we get several shots of Lady Catherine and husband motoring toward the country estate. The shots are from the back. So it's a slight shock when Lady Catherine breezes into the house and goes up to McGregor, thinking he's her son. Lady Catherine (superbly played by Eugenie Besserer) is seen to be a rather silly middle-aged dowager wearing too much makeup.
As the story progresses, Boardman starts to learn a lesson in romantic folly from the fading older woman who constantly gazes at an old photograph of herself (it's actually a photo of 20-year-old Joan Crawford who also plays the young Lady Catherine one of about a half dozen films she appeared in in 1925).
Co-stars include Alec B. Francis, George Fawcett, and Eulalie Jensen.