"Old is Gold" opens with Della in support of the Grey Panthers, trying unsuccessfully to get old goat Ed Brown on the bandwagon. Betting Chico that he's not over the hill, Ed applies for a mechanic's job at an employment agency, only to be told he's 'overqualified.' The agent (Sheila Rogers) explains that the employer is looking for a younger man like Chico, and even offers him the application! Ed: "you mean you would choose this inexperienced adolescent over me, me, with my vast knowledge?" Chico: "yeah lady, my knowledge is only half vast!" After this humiliation, Ed decides to hire an elderly mechanic just to get Della off his back. Charles Lane is priceless as Ed Brown clone Fred Cripps, right down to the grumpiness, the boozing, and insulting Chicanos: "we let these people across the border for one reason only, to buy our used Chevys!" Jim Jordan, of Fibber McGee and Molly radio fame, plays 73 year old mechanic James Maxwell, who was forced into early retirement from the company he founded four decades ago, Mighty Mac Mufflers, by an edict that he himself came up with, in the mistaken belief that no man over 65 could be capable of handling the job. Too dignified to take Ed Brown's coddling for long, Maxwell strides out and creates an opening for senior citizens in his own company: "just because I'm in the fourth quarter doesn't mean the game is over!" Unfortunately for Ed, his back reminds him that it's the two minute warning! Actually 79, Jim Jordan lived another 12 years before joining his late wife Marion, who doubled as Molly in their popular radio series.
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