The Circle [DVD] [1925]

In spite of a fine cast and director, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer somehow managed to turn the stage play by W. Somerset Maugham into merely a classy-looking program picture. The Cheneys are "veddy" proper upper-class Englishmen, so it's a shock in the 1890s when Lady Catherine, wife of Lord Clive Cheney, runs off with Hugh Porteous, who was best man at the wedding. Now, in the mid-'20s, Elizabeth (Eleanor Boardman) is married to Lord Clive's highly dignified and rather dull son Arnold (Creighton Hale), and she is considering running off with Edward Luton (Malcolm McGregor). To help her decide, she invites Porteous (George Fawcett) and Lady Catherine (Eugenie Besserer) to the ancestral castle on the assumption that Lord Clive (Alec Francis) will be in London. Of course, he shows up unexpectedly and is shocked to find his wife has grown fat and silly, while Porteous is an irascible old man. After spending time with the couple, Elizabeth decides she should probably stay home -- until she sees them embracing. That convinces her to take off with Luton. But only a few miles down the road, the car stops and the chauffeur gets out -- it's Arnold, who gives Luton a sound thrashing. That finished, he promptly takes Elizabeth back to the castle.~Janiss Garza