st-shot Professor Stock (Adolph Menjou) and wife Mizzi (Marie Provost) have reached an impasse in their marriage and he wants out. Mizzi's best friend Charlotte ( Florence Vidor ) is blissfully married to Dr. Charles Braun (Monte Blue). His partner Dr. Mueller (Creighton Hale) has designs on Charlotte who has no interest. When Mizzi sets her sights on Dr. Braun suspicions, stoked by misinterpretation and the diabolical Mizzi arise and accusations fly.The Marriage Circle is an excellent comedy of errors from the Silent Era featuring the wit and sophistication of Ernst Lubitsch that would go on to brilliantly inform some of the finest adult comedies before and after sound and code enforcement. Here he breezily unfolds his story with a benign amorality and suspense as his quintet of characters all share a little guilt and selfishness. Vidor is a beauty and paragon of virtue to behold but capable of being petty. Blue and Hale comically pine and mope while Menjou is pure dinner at eight collected. Acting honors however belong to Provost's Mizzi whose side glances and brashness haul the rest of the characters into the circle. The Marriage Circle is an outstanding example of silent film comedy and in large contrast to the slapstick that still dominated. Doors are closed, not slammed or run through, the humor is sly not pie in the face. Lubitsch conveys it beautifully here as he would into sound as well as influence a generation of filmmakers.

MartinHafer I had to see this film for two reasons: I love silent movies and I love the films of Ernst Lubitsch. So, since it was BOTH, I felt it would be a terrific film. Unfortunately, it really was nothing out of the ordinary--even if the film looked good.The film is about the wacky world of adultery. It concerns two couples and a guy who all get wrapped up in a case of partner-hopping. One lady is married to a nice guy but all she seems interested in doing is chasing men. He suspects and hires a private detective to follow her. The current object of her desire is her best friend's husband. As for this friend and her husband, they are both idiots. He wants to be a good and faithful husband but puts himself in bad situations. Several times throughout the film, I just wanted to see him belt the hussy! As for his wife, I really, really disliked her. Again and again, she pushed her husband away from her and distrusted him--as if she was trying to get him to cheat on her. And, at the same time, the husband's partner starts making the moves on her.All this is supposed to be sophisticated and witty. The problem is, it's not the least bit witty. It manages to make adultery seem a bit dull, actually. And, as the characters are mostly unlikable, I found it really hard to actually care about them or their plights. At best, this film is ordinary. Fortunately, Lubitsch went on to far better things.

Spondonman This was actually Ernst Lubitsch's first film for Warner Brothers, he remade it 8 years later as the sublime One Hour With You for Paramount. It's always been difficult for me to not mentally refer to the latter whenever watching this – because it's a good film in its own right and is better not compared to the technically and technologically improved later musical version.In Vienna city of dreams the husband of an ever-flirting wife grasps the opportunity to obtain a divorce on the grounds of her infidelity with the husband of her best friend. And the husbands' best friend fancies his wife too. Farcical situations develop, with the prevailing morals and manners always to the fore, but basically everyone gets what they deserve. Lubitsch's elegant production, the lovely décor, lightly salted frivolous story and human acting proved a big hit at the time and dare I say it, could be ultimately just as rewarding to watch as OHWY. It might have been a little better if it had only been 10 minutes shorter – some of the scenes are stultifyingly languorous, but I'm not really complaining.Although neither version ended satisfactorily, this was still a wonderful piece of film-making, a foretaste of things to come from Lubitsch and above all else, nice entertainment.

psteier Mainly of interest to those looking for Lubitsch touches, of which there are a goodly number. Hollywood has had a difficult time cleaning up European sex comedies for the American market without losing the zip.This picture is an example of this problem. Very good costumes and sets, but the story is not engaging.