3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt 1964

An out-of-work method actor Tom is hired by a stripper, a male model, and a car salesman to listen to their problems and go see a psychiatrist on their behalf; the three “nuts” lack the funds to pay for therapy, so the actor must pretend that he alone carries all their burdens. The psychiatrist is naturally intrigued and begins secretly recording the sessions, turning private troubles into material that could captivate a nation. These recordings soon broadcast across the country, pulling into the spotlight the eerie possibility that one man’s private confessions could become a national spectacle.

A film studio representative Robert L. Katz arrives with his aide Lenny, eyeing a movie to be made from Noonan’s curious case. They hand over a cheque for 100,000, which Noonan divides among himself and his three housemates. The money stirs moral questions among the group: is the arrangement ethical, or merely a clever scheme to cash in on someone else’s misery? Meanwhile, Saxie Symbol, the showgirl who inspired one of the clients, grows jealous of the way the public is now listening to Noonan’s unguarded sentiments about Dr. Myra Von Dr. Myra Von. Her envy leads her to seek therapy from another doctor, Dr. Otis Salverson Dr. Otis Salverson, who soon becomes entangled in the evolving dynamic.

Dr. Salverson and Dr. Von discuss the situation, and Salverson agrees to diagnose the three housemates in exchange for his silence. Von is initially reluctant, fearing that any negative press could threaten her reputation as the country’s leading psychiatrist—but she ultimately yields to Salverson’s proposition, insisting that she should be the one to craft Noonan’s cure. The professional arrangement becomes a tabloid-ready plot twist, turning psychotherapy into a negotiation between fame, ethics, and disclosure.

The plot takes a tangential turn when Noonan visits a pub. As he chats on the phone with Katz, the establishment is robbed. In the ensuing chaos, Noonan is knocked unconscious and wakes to find patrons stripped and their clothing piled near him, along with some jewelry belonging to Mrs. Berkeley-Kent Mrs. Berkeley-Kent. Seizing the moment, Noonan—still pretending he’s Bernard—stashes the jewelry and feigns unconsciousness again until the robbers leave. The affair snowballs into a chaotic misunderstanding, as Mrs. Berkeley-Kent accuses him of theft, and the pub’s patrons scramble to recover their clothes.

Back in the therapy room, Salverson completes their formal diagnoses, recommending that Lynch be moved into a sanitarium, Symbol pursue a life without a constant audience, and Bernard be exposed to a new kind of pursuit. Von quietly endorses the plan, admitting she would have prescribed something similar for Noonan in the days when the case seemed entirely about him. Katz returns with updates and the unsettling sense that the entire enterprise might be shaped as much by publicity as by psychology.

Noonan confronts the evolving diagnoses with a stubborn honesty, insisting that Symbol’s core issue is her virginity, and Bernard’s is his relentless chase for a woman who can challenge him. The sessions become a theater in which both therapists and clients test boundaries, and Noonan proposes a raw, unfiltered solution: a confrontation with the very people shaping their fates. In a moment of vulnerability, Noonan and Symbol acknowledge real feelings for each other, and a moment of tension erupts as Noonan’s persona shifts between identities—Bernard, Symbol, and the patient himself—while Symbol pleads with the doctors to steer him toward health.

The climax unfolds in a crowded bar, where the patrons re-enter wearing nothing but tablecloths, the result of the robbery and the ensuing confusion. Cops arrive as Mrs. Berkeley-Kent points an accusing finger at Noonan, and a mad chase erupts through the room. From the sidelines, Katz watches the chaos with a theatrical smile, admiring how neatly the scenario has played out. A comic aside from Ms. Twitchell, Blyth’s underpaid secretary and one of the bar’s nude patrons, adds a final cheeky note to the sequence, while Lenny and Katz trade witticisms about the spectacle.

In the end, the events become a kind of showpiece. Saxie Symbol’s career soars as a big-name attraction, and the entire movie is presented as a flashback elaborated on by her in a show performance. The story remains a tight, interwoven meditation on performance, therapy, money, and fame, all told through a sly, satirical lens that keeps the audience guessing about where truth ends and showmanship begins.