AllMovie

The Poor Nut was based on a stage comedy by the father-and-son team of J. C. and Elliot Nugent. Jack Mulhall assumes the role played by Elliot Nugent on Broadway, that of wimpish college student John Miller. Suffering from an inferiority complex, Miller worships beauty-contest winner Julia (Jane Winton) from afar, writing letters boasting of his imaginary athletic prowess but never having the nerve to mail them to her. When one of his letters is sent to Julia by mistake, she shows up on campus to meet her "hero" John Miller -- who is now obliged to prove that he is, indeed, the super-athlete he claims to be by participating in a track meet. Through a series of flukes and coincidences, Miller ends up the hero of the hour, but in the fadeout it is local soda-shop clerk Margie (Jean Arthur), and not the vampish Julia, who is the beneficiary of our hero's hugs and kisses. The Poor Nut was remade in 1931 as the Joe E. Brown vehicle Local Boy Makes Good.