When *Madame Butterfly* was released on November 8, 1915, in the United States, the review in the trade weekly *The Moving Picture World* (November 13, 1915, p. 1323) was full of praise : « Finely acted, splendidly staged and beautifully photographed is "Madame Butterfly." (…) In the role of Cho-Cho-San, the little Japanese woman who serves as a toy for an American naval officer on a few weeks' shore leave in the Flowery Kingdom, Mary Pickford is strong. She plays her part with a deftness and sympathy that draw out the deep pathos in the life of Cho-Cho-San, and she does not overlook the opportunities for moments of gayety.
"Madame Butterfly" will bring deserved honor to Sid Olcott, its producer, for the infinite care and artistry with which his work has been done. He has gone to great lengths to secure atmosphere. For his exteriors he has extensive Japanese gardens—miniature lakes, walks, diminutive trees, buildings, jinrikashas, the man-drawn vehicles; boats, and flowers. His interiors bear the same evidence of high craftsmanship. His players portray with fidelity all the extravagances of Japanese customs, all the quaint ceremonies of ordinary intercourse, inside the homes and without. Then, too, the Japanese -wedding is shown with a -wealth of detail.
There is an excellent cast. »
Not a word about the filming conditions, which were stormy. Mary Picford couldn't stand Sidney Olcott. «I didn’t like him, she confides to Kevin Brownlow (1). I shouldnever have used him (…) I didn’t rate him highly as a director.. »
According to Jack Spears, she found him « totally disinterested in anyone' leas but his own », and whe directing « brusque et unreasonable ». 

She didn't like that he took so long to work out the shots with his cinematographer, Hal Young. Olcott found his acting too exuberant, whereas he would have preferred more Asian restraint. Pickford complained to Zukor that the film lacked action. She even suggested handing the directing duties over to Marshall Neilan, the lead actor, who had « some good ideas for directingthat would pep it up ». (2)
One by one, they left the set, interrupting filming, only to return in the end thanks to Zukor’s diplomacy—he didn’t want to part with Olcott, whom he had managed to bring to Famous Players, and even less so with his star.










Madame Butterfly was an artistic and critical success. In addition to *The Moving Picture World*, here are some excerpts from the American press:

- « Mary Pickford has created her own Madame Butterfly, which  will most assuredly meet with the success her previous roles have been honored with. »(Motion Picture News - November 20, 1915, p. 80).

- « "Mme Butterfly" will not thrill people, the story is simple and its appeal is not through tense dramatic action, but it is more rich in pathos than any story which has been given the screen. » (Motography - November 27, 1915, p. 1444).

- « The picture version of " Madame Butterfly " is a Butterfly with all of the tragedy so softened that it is practically eliminated. It is not dramatic but really a story told in pictures with the dramatic intensity suggested and left to the imagination rather than shown. Yet, withal, it is a mighty pleasing picture, for it has been marvellously well done. It is photographic and directorial art from beginning to end, and the lack of emotional tensity is compensated for in the beauty of the photography, the rare attractiveness of the Japanese setting and the sweet winsome pensiveness of Mary Plckford. » (New York Dramatic Mirror - November 20, 1915, p. 28).

- « Words are useless to describe the beauty and artistry of it all - the production, the photography, the uniformity
excellent acting of supporting company and, above all else, Mary Pickford. The Famous Players has never turned out a finer feature - nor indeed has anybody. » (Variety, November 12, 1915, p. 22).

Spear claims that it was not a commercial success because Mary’s audience did not like her in the role of a young Japanese woman who commits suicide. (2)