It's always struck me as a bit odd that the Stooges appeared in one film in 1930 and then a whole bunch starting in 1933, but none in between. Does anyone know if there was any particular reason for this?
Because they broke up with Healy after SOUP TO NUTS (1930), and there were no film offers.
- Healy hired replacement stooges and continued to headline the bigger revue shows, and star in Broadway musicals (THE GANG'S ALL HERE and CRAZY QUILT)
- Moe, Larry & Shemp toured with little fanfare for two years as "Howard, Fine & Howard: 3 Lost Souls," with hired straightman Jack Walsh
The "originals" rejoined Healy in August 1932 for the Schubert's Broadway revue PASSING SHOW OF 1932 (which also featured Joe Besser's act).
- Healy quit the show before it opened its preview tour in Detroit; Moe and Larry stayed with him. They hired Jerry, continued touring and working their own stage act, and received an MGM offer in early 1933.
- Shemp (and Besser) stayed with the Schuberts; PASSING received bad reviews and closed in Cleveland. He returned to New York and soon signed on with Vitaphone Studios in Brooklyn.
