Madame Butterfly
Cast & Crew
Sidney Olcott
Mary Pickford
Olive West
Jane Hall
Lawrence Wood
Caroline Harris
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Japanese maiden Cho-Cho-San is courted by the dashing American officer Lieutenant Pinkerton and, in a traditional Oriental ceremony, marries him. Never taking his Eastern wedding vows seriously, Pinkerton leaves Japan and his "Madame Butterfly" after a few weeks to rejoin his ship, telling his bride he will return in the spring. The faithful, trusting Cho-Cho-San waits for Pinkerton in her mountain cabin with their newly born child, but the spring passes with no sign of the lieutenant. Shunned by her proud Samurai family, Cho-Cho-San persists in her lonely vigil, rejecting even the proposals of Yamadori, a wealthy Americanized Japanese. Finally Pinkerton returns, but accompanying him is Adelaide, his new American wife. When Adelaide learns the truth about Cho-Cho-San and her baby, she insists on bringing up the child herself, an offer Cho-Cho-San feels compelled to accept. Before handing over the child, Cho-Cho-San commits suicide, dying happily in the lieutenant's arms, at last reunited with her beloved.
Director
Sidney Olcott
Cast
Mary Pickford
Olive West
Jane Hall
Lawrence Wood
Caroline Harris
M. W. Rale
W. T. Carleton
David Burton
Frank Dekum
Marshall Neilan
Caesere Gravina
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Some sources list Frank Dekum as Frank Bekum. Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly had its premiere in Milan on February 17, 1904, but was not the source of this film. Paramount made another film based on this opera in 1932, which starred Sylvia Sidney.
