As a woman of a certain age, I have the great fortune of actually remembering the Automat restaurants, the marvelously entertaining subject of what Mel Brooks has deemed a “meshugganah documentary.” In Lisa Hurwitz’s charming, informative film, the era of the Automat gleams anew, as everyone from Colin Powell to Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Brooks recall their appeal.
For the uninitiated: Walking into an Automat was like walking into a vast, art-deco bank vault, all high ceilings, gleaming bronze, and pewter. Instead of safety-deposit boxes, there were windowed compartments of coconut cream pie, meat loaf, mac and cheese, and chocolate cake, among hundreds of other selections. You’d plug a nickel (or two) into the slot of your choice, remove your food, and join any of the dozens of tables where hundreds of people—from society matrons in furs to down-and-out panhandlers—dined communally.
The Automats have all long since been converted into fast-food joints, but for the first half of the 20th century, they provided good, cheap food to millions—plus five-cent cups of coffee dispensed from the bronzed mouth of spouts shaped like dolphins. Hurwitz tells the story of the Horn & Hardart establishments with wit, panache, and plenty of historical context, using roughly 90 years’ worth of archival footage to illustrate the narrative, which moves from the 1900s through 1991, when the last Automat became a Burger King. Interviewing celebs, laypeople, and Automat scholars (yes, they exist), Hurwitz shows how the restaurants thrived via technology that was a harbinger of cupcake ATMs and fast food. At their peak, the Automat was a brand as familiar to Americans as McDonald’s would eventually become. And as Brooks explains, the coconut cream pie was both delicious and terrific for smashing into someone’s face. 79 min.
AMC Theatres, Landmark Theatres
The post The Automat appeared first on Chicago Reader.