Jane Fonda in a publicity portrait for Walk on the Wild Side, 1962

At the Doll House, a 1930s New Orleans bordello, Hallie is the main attraction both for clients and for Jo, the madam. Her comfortable if tedious life is disrupted by the arrival in town of Dove Linkhorn, her true love of three years before, who is now searching for her. When Linkhorn learns the truth of her profession he triggers a chain of events involving a number of people, including the young Kitty with whom he traveled from Texas, who is now the Doll House newest recruit.