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Chic (Pat Hanna) pretends to be deaf, to avoid returning to the front. The medical officer (Norman French) tries to outsmart him, but Chic’s act is too convincing.
Curator’s notes
Hanna’s timing in this scene shows just how skilled a comedian he was, having honed the act through more than a decade of constant touring in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the Australian comedians of the early 1930s were similarly polished by years of stage work – but few of them made a successful transition to film. Even the great Roy Rene found it difficult to adapt to working to a camera, instead of an audience (see Strike Me Lucky).
