Based on a Tennessee Williams play, "Baby Doll" follows Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden), a bankrupt cotton gin owner who marries Baby Doll (Carroll Baker), a 19-year-old childish beauty arranged by her father for financial gain. While Archie awaits the arrival of Baby Doll's twentieth birthday, the day they are meant to marry, he is thwarted by business competitor Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach), who attempts to seduce Baby Doll away from Meighan.