“Madame Butterfly” is a classic East-meets-West romance. An American naval officer weds a Japanese Geisha, only to leave her for three years. Although it began as a short story and quickly became a successful American stage play, the tale is based on Giacomo Puccini’s 1904 Italian opera, “Madama Butterfly.”
This opera’s popularity inspired numerous films in the early days of Hollywood. After three silent films, the only talkie “Madame Butterfly” of the American classic era was released by Paramount Pictures in 1932.
