A screen adaptation of the opera, directed by Carmine Gallone jointly produced by Italy's Cineriz and Japan's Toho, filmed on location in Japan and starring Japanese and Italian actors, dubbed by Italian opera singers. Film version of Puccini's opera in which a young geisha is abandoned by the American father of her son and commits suicide.

A despairing clown suffering a broken heart and a self-indulgent count who uncontrollably laughs learn to help each other with their problems, but both fall in love with the same young woman.

故事发生在1900年的日本长期，美国海军上尉平克顿（彼得·德沃斯基 Peter Dvorsky 饰）经人介绍，迎娶了一位名叫蝴蝶（林康子 饰）的日本新娘。这段短暂的婚姻在平克顿的眼中不过是排遣寂寞的工具而已，婚后没多久，平克顿便回到了自己的祖国。而此时的蝴蝶腹中已经怀上了他的孩子。 回国后的平克顿将自己在日本的妻子忘得一干二净，因为他在美国还有着另外一个家庭。但是蝴蝶夫人却久久无法从这段关系中解脱出来，每日都饱受思念之苦。她生下了平克顿的孩子，独自将他抚养长大。当她再度见到平克顿时，平克顿竟然提出要将孩子带走。

1919 film by Fritz Lang