Born Yesterday

Businessman Harry Brock John Goodman takes his girlfriend Billie Dawn Melanie Griffith to elite parties with politicians. Billie, a showgirl by background, is unpolished and her straightforward remarks on political issues reveal her social naivety. Harry believes she can be taught, so he hires a reporter, Paul Verrall Don Johnson to coach her.

While Paul works to educate Billie, he quietly begins to care for her, and their professional dynamic slowly shifts. Paul teaches Billie a few carefully chosen phrases to project intelligence, and she starts to impress crowds at a party. Harry congratulates Paul on Billie’s improvement, but Billie feels more like a ventriloquist’s puppet than a real participant in the conversations around her.

Paul gradually falls in love with Billie, even as he remains focused on the task Harry set for him. Behind the scenes, Harry repeatedly asks Billie to sign papers, creating several companies in her name, all of which she unknowingly endorses. After studying with Paul, Billie starts to actually read the documents Harry offers her to sign, and this awareness unsettles her. Harry grows angry and even slaps her, but she signs anyway, and his verbal tirades at a senator draw Billie’s disapproval.

Billie turns to Paul when she worries she may have signed illegal documents. She helps Paul break into Harry’s safe and they steal the documents. Paul skims through the papers and discovers that all the companies are in Billie’s name, with clear evidence that Harry has been bribing senators to advance his interests.

Meanwhile, Harry shops for a wedding ring, arrives at a hotel room with flowers, and proposes to Billie, only for her to reject him. He goes to the safe to check the documents, only to find them missing. Billie reveals that Paul took the documents to publish in his paper. Paul arrives and kisses Billie, who declares that she wants to marry Paul.

In the aftermath, Billie tells Harry that she will return his companies to him, but one at a time, at the rate of one per year. She also urges him to recover the bribe money from the senators and wind down his illegal business activities. The two pursue a future where love and integrity begin to redefine their involvement with power, and Billie steps into a more self-assured role beside Paul as they face the consequences of their actions.

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 08:20