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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 512

The Circle

192560 minUnited States
RomanceComedy
Video edition
YouTube
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
70:48
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

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Synopsis

A young wife considering leaving her husband invites his estranged mother to visit with the man for whom she once abandoned the family. She hopes the older couple will demonstrate that romantic escape leads to happiness. Their arrival, complicated by the unexpected presence of the deserted husband, offers a less reassuring preview of the future.

Cast

DirectorsFrank Borzage

Inspirations

Frank Borzage's film adapts W. Somerset Maugham's play about the repetition of family choices. Joan Crawford appears briefly as the younger version of the older woman, connecting the opening elopement to its consequences three decades later.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceDuke Center for the Study of the Public Domain — US term reference

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

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Availability checked on September 10, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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