The Automat

2021
G
1h 19m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

Centers on the vending machine popularized in the 20th century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery.

Play trailer2:11

1 Video

5 Photos

Food Documentary History Documentary Documentary History

Documentary centers on the vending machine popularized in the 20th century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery.Documentary centers on the vending machine popularized in the 20th century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery.Documentary centers on the vending machine popularized in the 20th century that offered fresh cooked meals in a commissary-style eatery.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

1.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 10 wins & 9 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 2:11

Official Trailer

Photos5

Trivia
Three of the film's most famous participants died either before or shortly after the documentary's festival premiere in September 2021. Comedy legend Carl Reiner and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg each passed away in 2020, and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell passed away in October 2021. A message added to the dedications after the end credits reads, "The producers would like to remember Mr. Reiner, Justice Ginsburg and General Powell and thank their teams".

Goofs
When Horn and Hardart doubled the price of coffee from a nickel to 10 cents, it is stated that the number of cups of coffee sold "immediately" dropped from 70 million a year to 45 million. A year-long tally does not convey immediacy; stating it to be an immediate drop of 35% would have been clearer.

Quotes
Self - Comedian: Of course, when you say "Automat" or "Horn & Hardart", very few people know what you're talking about. But, one of the greatest inventions in sane centers of paradise, where these places that had little glass windows, framed in brass, with knobs. And if you put two nickels into the slot next to the windows, the windows would open up, and you could take out a piece of lemon meringue pie for ten cents. And you could eat it. And that was called the Automat.

Crazy credits
Video of Mel Brooks singing his song dedication of the automat, the orchestra recording the music along with photo stills and video clips from the documentary accompany the ending credits.

Connections
Features The Early Bird (1925)

Soundtracks
At the Automat
Music & lyrics by Mel Brooks
Performed by Mel Brooks
Arranged and produced by Hummie Mann
Courtesy of Brooksmusic
[Played at the end of the movie leading into and during the end credits]

User reviews23

Review

Featured review

10/10

Sheer delight for anyone misses (or wonders about) Automats

THE AUTOMAT takes viewers back to the very beginning, sharing how Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart teamed to create the eateries so many of us love, though they no longer exist. Hurwitz spoke to family members, former employees, historians, authors and a few celebs -- Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Eliot Gould, Colin Powell -- about their Automat memories, and the result is a joyful yet unavoidably elegiac film that is simply a must-see for anyone with an interest in these bygone gems.

I expected this film to be good -- I was counting on it. And it lived up to and exceeded all hopes and expectations.