150 Word Review: ‘The Automat’ (2021)

It’s not fancy, but it’s good

Photo: Slice of Pie Productions

The Automat is an unpretentious documentary about the rise and fall of a once-famous chain of restaurants in New York and Philadelphia that are long gone and barely remembered. But for almost sixty years, the Automat was a futuristic cross between a cafeteria and a vending machine, where a nickel bought you a cup o’ Joe that poured out of a dolphin-shaped spout or a slice of pie that lived behind a little window, one of dozens.

Director Lisa Hurwitz interviews people with personal and professional connections to Horn & Hardart Automats, which first opened in 1902. Hurwitz treats her subjects with respect and dignity as if this beloved proto-fast food joint was a historical landmark even though the last one closed in 1991. The star of The Automat is, of course, vintage footage of the eatery itself but legendary funnyman Mel Brooks shows up, too. He loved the coffee.

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