The film centers around a young woman known as "Lotus Flower" who lives in China in the late 1910s and early 1920s. She saves an American soldier from a shipwreck and marries him soon afterwards, despite the disapproval of her peers. Her husband Allen Carver leaves for sea and doesn't come back. Three years later, Lotus Flower is raising a toddler-aged son alone while she waits for her husband to come back and take them to America. One day though, a letter arrives from Allen saying that he's coming back to China. Lotus Flower and her son wait patiently, oblivious to the fact all is not right.
The Toll of the Sea was considered to have been lost in the 1967 MGM Vault fire incident, however a copy was rediscovered in 1985. That copy was missing the final two rolls, but thankfully it was just a sunset scene so a similar scene was filmed to emulate the lost one.
Provides examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Past: This movie takes place in China between the years 1919 and 1922.
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Carver, who is basically a terrible person, forgets about Lotus Flower after going home, getting together with his childhood sweetheart.
- Adaptation Name Change: Cio-Cio-san, a.k.a. "(Madame) Butterfly", becomes "Lotus Flower" and B.F. Pinkerton becomes "Allen Carver". Pinkerton and Cio-Cio's son Dolore becomes "Little Allen". Kate Pinkerton becomes Barbara "Elsie" Carver.
- Adapted Out: Cio-Cio-san's maid Suzuki, all her relatives (Lotus Flower is apparently an orphan), her suitor Yamadori, the American consul Sharpless, and the slimy marriage-broker Goro (his Jerkass Has a Point role is taken over by two catty female neighbors). The plot is stripped down to its bare essentials, with all the non-central characters left out.
- Age Lift: Her age is never mentioned but Lotus Flower seems slightly older than the initially fifteen year old Cio-Cio-san. Anna was seventeen when she did the film, subverting
Dawson Casting. - Asian Babymama: Allen ran off for about three years after getting his wife pregnant, while Lotus was left to raise their kid alone until he returned with a new wife.
- Cassandra Truth: Lotus Flower's bitchy "friends" tell her that Carver will leave her behind in China and forget about her. They're right.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Allen chooses his American childhood sweetheart Elsie over his Chinese wife.
- Give Him a Normal Life: Lotus gives away her son to Allen and his new wife so that he can have a happier life with his father in America.
- Happily Adopted: Invoked. Lotus tells her son that she was simply taking care of him until his real mother came along. She then gives him to Allen and his new wife.
- Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow: Madame Butterfly is considered the Trope Codifier after all.
- Rescue Romance: Lotus Flower finds Allen unconscious in the sea after a shipwreck and takes him to safety.
- Retraux: The restored version begins with credits for the 1985 restoration and notes on the restoration. This sequence was given scratches and flickering to make it look like the rest of the film.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The restoration makes some odd musical choices, like using whimsical melody "Dance of the Hours
" (the tune from "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah", if that's familiar) for the heartbreaking scene where Allen tells Lotus Flower that he will not be taking her to America. - Suicide by Sea: Lotus Flower throws herself into the ocean after giving her son to Allen and Elsie. This isn't shown onscreen, but the final intertitle, interspersed between shots of the sea, makes the implication clear.
- Those Two Guys: Lotus Flower's two cynical, catty neighbor ladies, who continually come around to mock and insult her. They're always seen together.
