Just like in a fairy tale, the chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina (Hepburn), has a crush on the prince. Only in this case, the prince is David (Holden), a playboy who might have more ex-wives than brain cells. His brother, Linus (Bogart), is the questionably more successful brother, and also far more sensible. David Larrabee, of the Rhode Island Larrabees, is far too wealthy to notice the shy, retiring Sabrina Fairchild of the Above-the-garage Fairchilds. As luck would have it, though, the Larrabees take care of their servants, right down to cooking school in Paris. After all, women can't be chauffeurs themselves, so why not train them to work in the kitchen?
The Larrabee family could never have predicted that Sabrina would return polished and glamorous, able to hold a candle to any woman at one of their fancy soirees. She is just the sort of woman to attract David's attention, and before he even recognizes her, he falls head over heels for her. The timing couldn't be worse - Linus has made a business deal with Elizabeth Tyson's (Hyer's) father that calls for David to marry Elizabeth.
Business comes first for Linus, and after he gets his brother out of the way (with champagne glasses- David lives), Linus takes it on himself to keep Sabrina away from David by taking her on dates himself. Of course, in classic romance fashion, Linus falls in love with her himself. Something David doesn't entirely appreciate.
So now the question is who will Sabrina choose. Or will she choose neither of them? You might know how the fairy tale ends, but it's still a good yarn.