Circle of Two

A 60-year-old artist, who has lost his inspiration when his muse left him 10 years previously, regains it when he falls in love with a sixteen-year-old.

• Richard Burton - Ashley St. Clair
• Tatum O'Neal - Sarah Norton
• Nuala Fitzgerald - Claudia Aldrich
• Robin Gammell - Mr. Norton
• Patricia Collins - Mrs. Norton
• Kate Reid - Dr. Reed
• Michael Wincott - Paul

570 shares in the film were sold at $10,000 to 426 people to finance its $5.7 million budget.{{sfn|Knelman|1987|p=23}} Merrill Lynch earned $456,000 off of the commissions for the investment sales.{{Cite news |date=22 December 1984 |title=Merrill Lynch centre stage in film suit |page=26 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124253126/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508154016/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124253126/ |archive-date=8 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} It was estimated that the film needed to make $8-15 million to break-even.{{Cite news |date=27 September 1979 |title=Investors eye movie business |page=25 |work=Red Deer Advocate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/red-deer-advocate/124255174/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508161953/https://www.newspapers.com/article/red-deer-advocate/124255174/ |archive-date=8 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Richard Burton was paid $750,000 to appear in the film.{{Cite news |date=31 May 1980 |title=Richard Burton |page=11 |work=Ottawa Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen/124368134/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510181642/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen/124368134/ |archive-date=10 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{sfn|Munn|2008|p=228}} Thomas Hedley adapted Marie-Térèse Baird's book A Lesson In Love. The film was shot from 27 August to 3 November 1979. The film was mostly shot in Toronto, but three days were spent in New York and two days in Antigua. The film was 105 minutes long with a score by Paul Hoffert, but was later recut to 98 minutes with a new score by Bernard Hoffer.{{sfn|Turner|1987|p=315-316}}

Burton wanted his dog to be given a first class seat while flying on Air Canada to shooting in New York. Melina Mercouri, the wife of director Jules Dassin, also wanted to take her dog. A different airline was used.{{sfn|Knelman|1987|p=30}}

Tatum O'Neal stated that her nude scene "was a mistake" and that she would never do one again.{{Cite news |date=15 June 1982 |title=Tatum leaves nest, works on career |page=A11 |work=Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star/124418510/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511170353/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star/124418510/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} In her autobiography, A Paper Life, O'Neal stated that the "premise of the movie was a little pedophilic and creepy, but the worst part for me was having to do a seminude scene. It's agonizing to watch-- this awkward young girl disrobing for the artist in his studio. Even from the back, my body language shows that they'd forced me to take my shirt off-- at least it's obvious to me-- and that I'm standing there miserably aware of my half-developed breasts."{{Google books|VTHOerKO7yIC|A_Paper Life}}

The film was released in London on 7 May 1981, and shown by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on 31 March 1983. World Northal distributed the film in the United States.{{sfn|Turner|1987|p=315-316}} The CBC paid around $600,000 for Circle of Two, Wild Horse Hank, and Mr. Patman.{{Cite news |date=20 November 1980 |title=Films dumped straight to TV |page=41 |work=Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star/124401765/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511065055/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star/124401765/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} John Crabb, one of the investors who filed a lawsuit, claimed that the film earned $190,000 from its Canadian television distribution rights and $150,000 for its American distribution rights although that money had not been collected.{{Cite news |date=7 September 1987 |title=Circle of Two lawsuit reveals risks of film financing |page=7 |work=Financial Times of Canada}}

Securities commissions in Ontario and Quebec issued a cease-trading order against Circle of Two in September 1982.{{Cite news |date=16 October 1982 |title=Films dumped straight to TV |page=2 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124419270/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511172548/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124419270/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} On 25 August 1983, 240 of the film's investors filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Ontario and sought $34 million.{{Cite news |date=3 September 1983 |title='Circle of Two' investors take case to court |page=4 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124419270/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511173805/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124420566/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{sfn|Knelman|1987|p=23-24}} Additional lawsuits were filed by other investors before a settlement was offered in 1987.{{Cite news |date=13 September 1986 |title=Investors sue again over Circle of Two |page=12 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124422984/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511181252/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124422984/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=7 September 1987 |title=Drama comes full circle for investors in Circle of Two |page=9 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124423129/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511181400/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/124423129/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Circle of Two received mostly negative reviews at the time of its release.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/circle_of_two/|title=CIRCLE OF TWO (1980)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=17 September 2018}} Terry Kelleher, writing in the Miami Herald, gave the film one star out of four stating that it "lives down to expectations" and was critical of its cinematography and Burton's performance.{{Cite news |date=23 March 1982 |title='Circle of Two' utterly improbable |page=9D |work=Miami Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/124402191/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511074038/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/124402191/ |archive-date=11 May 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide states that "Burton is OK, and Dassin does not go for the cheap thrill, but the result is slight and forgettable."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPMxDwAAQBAJ&q=circle+of+two+tatum+o%27neal+richard+burton&pg=PA253|author=Leonard Maltin|author-link=Leonard Maltin|title=Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide : Circle of Two|publisher=Penguin Random House|page=253|isbn=9780142181768|date=2015}}

From People magazine's "Picks and Pans Review":

Richard Burton has carried a film or two in his day, and he tries to tote this one along. Burton, 56, plays a Toronto artist whose muse and passion are revived by a liaison with Tatum O’Neal, 18, a schoolgirl who wants to be a writer. The premise is within reason, if barely. It’s harder to accept the obnoxious supporting characters—her parents and friends, his art world associates—and the actors who play them quite badly. Jules (Never on Sunday) Dassin’s direction and Thomas Hedley’s script are strained too. At one point O’Neal goes on a hunger strike when her parents won’t let her see Burton. “That old gentleman happens to mean more to me than anything else,” she wails. “The next time I eat, it will be with him.” While she’s a decent actress, O’Neal hardly seems attractive enough for the role, even though she records her first nude scene. Burton, meanwhile, gentlemanly underacts, yet his glances and monosyllables are so much more interesting than the rest of the movie they become a form of upstaging.{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-circle-of-two-vol-16-no-21/|title=Picks and Pans Review : Circle of Two|website=People.com|publisher=People|date=23 November 1981}}

In his review of Chris Williams' "The Richard Burton Diaries" for Commentary, critic Terry Teachout notes that this film was considered a low point in Burton's long, once-esteemed career:

As Burton grew older, his roles, with few exceptions, grew tawdrier, and he became known, like Laurence Olivier, for his willingness to do anything for money. He stooped so low in 1981 as to appear in Jules Dassin’s Circle of Two, in which he plays a 60-year-old artist who falls for the 16-year-old Tatum O’Neal.

By the time of his death three years later, his artistic reputation was in tatters.{{cite web|url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-devil-mr-burton/|website=CommentaryMagazine.com|publisher=Commentary|author=Teachout, Terry|title=The Devil & Mr. Burton|date=December 2012}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|editor-last=Turner |editor-first=D. John |title=Canadian Feature Film Index: 1913-1985 |publisher=Canadian Film Institute |date=1987 |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianfeaturef0000turn |isbn=0660533642}}
• {{cite book|last=Knelman |first=Martin |title=Home Movies: Tales from the Canadian Film World |publisher=Key Porter Books |date=1987 |url=https://archive.org/details/homemoviestalesf0000knel |isbn=1550130498}}
• {{cite book|last=Munn |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Munn |title=Richard Burton: Prince of Players |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |date=2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/richardburtonpri00munn |isbn=9781602393554}}

• {{IMDb title|0080536}}
• [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/obsession-am187772 Circle of Two at AllMovie]
• {{tcmdb title|id=70953}}

{{Jules Dassin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Circle Of Two}}

Category:1981 films

Category:1981 drama films

Category:Canadian drama films

Category:English-language Canadian films

Category:Films directed by Jules Dassin

Category:Films set in Toronto

Category:Films shot in Toronto

Category:Troma Entertainment films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:1980s Canadian films