“Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford), a tycoon who has made a fortune out of scrap iron, comes to Washington intending to buy congressmen's support for a bill which will enable him to extend his activities. (H)e brings his mistress, an ex-chorus girl of phenomenal ignorance named Billie Dawn (Judy Holliday). When Billie seems likely to disgrace him before his congressional acquaintances, Brock decides to hire a young writer to educate her. The experiment succeeds all too well....” (MFB). Paul Varrall (William Holden) soon discovers that his pupil is not only ignorant of correct English but also of the corrupt, abusive wheelings and dealings of her brashly “nouveau riche” boyfriend. Appalled by this set of circumstances, Varrall sets out to instruct Billie in the rudiments of diction and democracy. Quickly Billie learns that ignorance is not bliss but a hindrance, and casts aside her “dumb blonde” persona to Varrall's cynical delight and Brock's unmitigated chagrin.
“Although Born Yesterday was picketed and criticized as communistic at the time, that says more about the time and its critics than about the film, which lambastes political corruption specifically and ignorance in general, proclaims the emancipation of women from male dominance, and extolls the virtues of American democracy....” --Sam Gill