Take a Trip Back in Time to "The Automat"

Hello again everyone,

Let's talk about another movie I watched recently!

If you're in the market for a pleasant, engrossing, yet relatively low-stakes documentary, might I suggest:

The Automat (2021)

It might be hard to imagine that a feature-length movie on what appears to be a primordial and now-defunct fast food restaurant could truly be entertaining, but director Lisa Hurwitz delivers an extremely effective, comprehensive, and enjoyable film about a bygone and largely forgotten institution of a restaurant.  Located only in New York City and Philadelphia, Horn and Hardart's Automat restaurants were revolutionary for their time on many fronts; in fact, we learn from "The Automat" that the gleaming little nickel-operated doors unleashing treats upon the eager public were only the tip of the innovation iceberg for the chain.

First of all, to view automats as an early version of fast food restaurants is evidently a major mischaracterization that genuinely misses some of what made these eateries remarkable.  To start, the original restaurants were GORGEOUS, with gleaming marble and metal fixtures, high ceilings, and art deco decor.

Second, as essentially every talking head in the documentary enthusiastically attests, the food and coffee were apparently delicious, made from real ingredients well before the advent of food so chemically altered as to be unrecognizable.

But perhaps the most lovely aspect of automats was their commitment--with evident follow-through--to serving everyone, regardless of race, sex, or socioeconomic class.  The beautiful interiors and high quality food at a Horn and Hardart attracted, it seems, everyone, and because of the affordability of the offerings everyone could actually afford to dine there.  But beyond that, the chain had a stated aim to welcome everyone; patrons even shared tables with strangers during busy times, and no one was to be hustled or harassed out of the restaurant even if they lingered for hours.

As the film charts the rise and decline of Horn and Hardart over almost the entirety of the 1900s, the sincere affection expressed for the restaurants by the often very famous people interviewed (including Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Colin Powell) invites the audience to join in gentle, wistful nostalgia for a dining experience we may never have shared ourselves.  It's a remarkable accomplishment for a documentary that, at first glance, was just about a humble restaurant from the past.

I gave this movie a 4.  You can learn more about it here, or stream it on HBO Max.

{Heart}