Description
In the Mississippi
Delta region, nineteen-
year-old Baby Doll
lives unhappily with
her husband, Archie Lee
Meighan, a middle-aged,
down-on-his-luck cotton
gin owner. Archie
cannot afford to repair
the decrepit antebellum
mansion, Fox Tail, that
the couple inhabits,
and the Ideal Pay-as-
You-Go furniture
company is threatening
to repossess their
meager household
belongings, thus giving
Baby Doll more and more
reason to malign
Archie's masculinity.
When Baby Doll was
betrothed to Archie on
her father's death bed,
the dying man made
Archie promise not to
deflower the girl until
her twentieth birthday,
and with her birthday
just two days away,
Archie is anxious to
make Baby Doll his wife
"for real." As the
childlike Baby Doll
sleeps in her crib
sucking her thumb,
Archie tries to drill a
hole in the wall in
order to spy on her.
Baby Doll awakes
furious, and later
during her bath, she
becomes even more
enraged when Archie
tries to grab her. The
next day, in town,
while Archie is seeing
his doctor about his
sexual troubles, Baby
Doll, determined to get
a job, flirts with a
young dentist who is
looking for a
secretary. As the
couple returns to Fox
Tail, they see the
furniture being taken
away, prompting Baby
Doll to announce her
desire to leave Archie
and move to the Cotton
King Motel. Meanwhile,
Silva Vacarro, a
Sicilian immigrant and
the owner of the new
cotton gin that has
taken away all of
Archie's business,
gives his employees a
fish fry to celebrate
their first successful
crop. As the
festivities, which
include a speech by a
senator, ensue, a
drunken Archie sets
fire to Vacarro's
cotton gin, burning it
to the ground. Vacarro
tries to tell the
police that he was a
victim of arson, but
they treat him as an
outsider and refuse to
investigate. The next
morning, Vacarro brings
his twenty-seven loads
of cotton to Archie's
gin, and Archie is
overjoyed to have the
business. As Archie
tends to the cotton,
however, Vacarro meets
Baby Doll and flirts
with her in order to
get information about
Archie's whereabouts
the night before. After
Baby Doll reveals that
Archie had indeed left
her alone in the house
on the previous
evening, she grows
suspicious of Vacarro,
but he tickles and
flirts with her to coax
her to talk. Baby Doll
gets nervous and goes
to the gin to find
Archie, but he slaps
her and tells her not
to go "where niggers
are working." Vacarro
is disgusted at the
state of Archie's
equipment and is
furious that the work
has not yet been
started. He orders
Archie to find a new
belt for the cotton
gin, but when Archie
leaves, he is chased by
a hysterical Baby Doll,
who does not want to be
left alone with
Vacarro. After
Vacarro's assistant
informs him that they
already have the belt,
Vacarro approaches a
weeping Baby Doll, who
is upset because her
live-in aunt, Rose
Comfort, has left the
house to go to the
county hospital, where
she satisfies her
passion for sweets by
visiting dying patients
and eating their
chocolate candies. Baby
Doll explains her
marital situation to a
surprised Vacarro and
then declares that her
"being ready" depends
on whether or not the
furniture comes back.
Baby Doll goes to make
lemonade, telling
Vacarro to wait on the
front porch, but he
sneaks into the house
and begins to make
ghost noises to scare
her. When she locks
herself in her bedroom,
he makes the lemonade
himself. The pair then
begin a riotous game of
tag and hide-and-seek,
and Baby Doll locks
herself in the attic.
Annoyed, Vacarro tells
Baby Doll that he will
break the door down
unless she signs the
affidavit that he has
prepared regarding
Archie's guilt. He
breaks in, and Baby
Doll screams, fearing
that the rickety floor
of the attic will cave
in. She tearfully signs
the paper, then as
Vacarro is about to
leave, she offers to
let him take a nap in
her baby crib. Archie,
meanwhile, is treated
badly at the parts shop
because he has no money
and has to pay for the
part with his gold
watch. After he hurries
back to the cotton gin
and discovers that the
repair has already been
made, he returns home,
only to be accused of
arson by Baby Doll. She
announces that their
agreement is over, then
Vacarro appears. Baby
Doll reveals that
Vacarro has decided not
to rebuild his gin, but
will bring the cotton
to Archie's gin and
have Baby Doll
entertain him while it
is being processed.
Archie, confused, tells
Vacarro to stay for
supper while he
considers his proposal.
While Archie is on the
phone, Baby Doll and
Vacarro kiss, and then
Archie, suspicious and
angry, begins to scream
at Aunt Rose to bring
in the food. Archie
decides to fire Aunt
Rose, whom he claims
has overstayed her
welcome, but he is
perplexed when Vacarro
hires the teary-eyed
old woman as his cook.
Archie finally accuses
the pair of having
cheated on him, but
Vacarro swears that he
came for only one
thing, the signed
affidavit. Archie then
calls Vacarro a "wop"
and grabs his rifle.
After Vacarro hides
outside in a tree, Baby
Doll calls the police
and joins Vacarro in
the tree. Archie,
frustrated and
exhausted after his
rampage, finally breaks
down in tears crying
out Baby Doll's name.
Once the police arrive
and take the gun away
from Archie, Vacarro
emerges and shows them
the affidavit,
threatening to take it
to the county sheriff.
Before leaving, Vacarro
promises to return the
next day with more
cotton. The town
marshal then informs
Archie that they must
go through with his
arrest for "appearances
sake," and Archie
watches Baby Doll go
back to the house as
midnight strikes,
signaling her twentieth
birthday. A transformed
Baby Doll tells Aunt
Rose that they will
have to wait until the
next day to see if they
will be remembered or
forgotten by the tall,
dark stranger.
edit
Genre
Producer
Network(s)
Add a new program
Feedback