In
Baltimore 1954, Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, known for his ability to shed a single tear, leads a group of "
drapes". The group includes his sister Pepper, a teenage single mother of two; facially disfigured tough girl Mona "Hatchet-Face" Malnorowski and her devoted boyfriend, runaway
rockabilly bass player Milton Hackett; and sexually precocious Wanda Woodward, whose post-
World War II conventional parents Hector (a school bus driver) and Maggie (a school traffic warden) constantly embarrass her. One day after school, Allison Vernon-Williams, a beautiful upper-class girl tired of being a "
square", approaches Cry-Baby, and the two fall in love. That same day, he interrupts a talent show at the R.S.V.P.
Charm School run by Allison's grandmother, and introduces himself to her, though she doubts his overall motives. Cry-Baby invites Allison to a party at Turkey Point, a local hangout spot for the drapes. Despite her grandmother's skepticism, Allison ultimately accompanies Cry-Baby to Turkey Point, where Hatchet-Face, Pepper, and Wanda give her a "drape" makeover before she sings a duet onstage with him. Later, both commiserate over their shared tragic experiences of losing their parents; he shares that his father was sentenced to the
electric chair for being the notorious "Alphabet Bomber" (a killer who bombed places in alphabetical order) along with his mother as an accomplice, while she reveals that her parents took separate flights for safety, but one time, both of their planes went down, killing them. During their conversation, Allison's jealous boyfriend, Baldwin, leads a group of fellow squares in inciting a riot, vandalizing the Drapes' cars with graffiti and setting Cry-Baby's motorcycle, which was a birthday gift from his maternal uncle Belvedere Ricketts and maternal grandmother Ramona Ricketts, ablaze. In court, the judge releases most of the Drapes to their parents and Allison to her grandmother, but consigns Pepper's young children, "Snare-Drum" and "Susie-Q", to the Chatterbox Orphanage and sentences the wrongfully blamed Cry-Baby to the Maryland Training School for Boys until his 21st birthday, outraging his friends and even Allison's grandmother, who is impressed by Cry-Baby's unwavering devotion to Allison. When Lenora Frigid, who has an unrequited crush on Cry-Baby, claims to be pregnant with his child, Allison feels betrayed and tentatively returns to Baldwin and the squares, though her grandmother warns her against prematurely rushing into such a decision. In the
penitentiary, Cry-Baby gets a
teardrop tattoo under his left eye from fellow drape Dupree, which he dedicates to Allison. Cry-Baby later escapes through a grate into the prison sewer system, while Milton and Hatchet-Face purloin a helicopter, steer it into the jail yard, and scour the cell block hoping to locate and rescue Cry-Baby. Unsuccessful in doing so, they escape in a garbage collection truck. Cry-Baby finally escapes the sewers, but he encounters a room full of prison guards. Meanwhile, Belvedere and Ramona assist Pepper in freeing her children from the Chatterbox Orphanage, before proceeding to release all the other children as well. After Allison performs with Baldwin and his clean-cut vocal group, the Whiffles, at the newly constructed Enchanted Forest theme park, her grandmother allies with the Drapes (led by Belvedere), who have successfully infiltrated the area, in convincing her to campaign for Cry-Baby's release. Her performance outside the jail persuades the judge, who has become romantically interested in Allison's grandmother, to release Cry-Baby. As the judge announces Cry-Baby's rehabilitation to reporters, Baldwin immediately provokes Cry-Baby by tauntingly revealing that his grandfather electrocuted Cry-Baby's father. Responsively, Cry-Baby challenges him to a
chicken race between his jalopy and Baldwin's car, under the condition that they ride on the roofs and allow their closest friends to drive. With Belvedere driving, several Drapes squeeze themselves into Cry-Baby's car, while Baldwin's friends climb into his car. As the cars race toward each other, Pepper delivers an infant son in the backseat, and she happily accepts her boyfriend's marriage proposal. Baldwin chickens out and his car crashes into a chicken house, allowing Cry-Baby to ultimately emerge victorious. Dupree speeds toward him on his motorcycle, with Allison riding on the back, before slamming on the brakes, sending her somersaulting through the air into Cry-Baby's arms. All spectators cry a single tear, except for Cry-Baby and Allison, who cry from both eyes. ==Cast==