The Circle is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Frank Borzage. The film stars Eleanor Boardman, Malcolm McGregor, and Alec B. Francis. A young Joan Crawford (whose name was changed that year from Lucille LeSueur through a contest run by the studio) appears in the film's opening scene and later in a photograph viewed by other characters. The screenplay, written by Kenneth B. Clarke, was based on the 1921 play of the same title by W. Somerset Maugham.

Plot

In the 1890s, young Lady Catherine (Joan Crawford) decides to leave her husband, Lord Clive Cheney (Derek Glynne), and her son Arnold in favor of her lover, "Hughie" Porteous (Frank Braidwood). Thirty years later, young Elizabeth Cheney (Eleanor Boardman) is facing the same choice between her husband, the now grown Arnold (Creighton Hale), and her lover, Teddy Luton (Malcolm McGregor). Before going off with Teddy, however, Elizabeth wants to know how the love match between Catherine and Hughie has worked out, so she has invited them to the house while Arnold's now-aged father, Lord Clive (Alec B. Francis), is away on a hunting trip. Scenes of Catherine and Hughie driving toward the house, with only the backs of their heads visible, are intercut.