A U.S. gunboat cruises China's Yangtze River in 1926, witnessing the awakening of a bloody revolution.

John Hodges works a hand press at a ACME Printing Company and is forced to retire when he turns sixty-five. When it is discovered that no one at the company knows the parent company's president, John decides to dye his hair and mustache, and gives a convincing impersonation to the executive officers to ignore the mandatory retirement clause. John soon finds himself giving a creditable speech on the dignity of man and gaining national attention to...