‘Automat’ Taps Into Nostalgia and Easier Times in One of the Most Original Docs Ever (Movie Review)
The Automat
Rating: 10/10
Director: Lisa Hurwitz
Writer: Michael Levine
Style: Documentary
Time: 79 minutes
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWNkIsLEny4
Website: http://automatmovie.com
Review by Mike Szymanski
So many people in the Hollywood industry tend to brag about upcoming projects that often never materialize, but the stories are always fascinating about how they get there.
Walking my dogs every day in the Hollywood Hills at a dog park, the industry is a frequent topic, and one of my dear friends Vivian talked for years about her daughter’s documentary project.
“Oh, I love documentaries! What’s it about?” I enthused.
“Automats,” she replied.
“Automats?”
“Yeah, you know the things where you put in some money and you get a sandwich?” she explained.
“I know what Automats are, but a documentary about them?”
I was skeptical, and then I met her daughter, Lisa Hurwitz, who was walking their dogs while her mom was away, and she did a much better selling job explaining what “The Automat” was all about, and why it’s relevant to the world today.
And it is. Once I got to see the finished product when it opened in Los Angeles, I was astounded at how much I loved it, and how it is truly one of the most interesting documentaries to come about in a long time, if not ever.
Before I even begin to name drop who appears in the cast (which is a documentary in itself), you have to understand that “The Automat” is not only the history of New York and Philadelphia, but it is a window into racism, economic diversity, religious tolerance, fast-food, mechanization, and Americana at its finest. It may reflect a time of days gone by, but the story and message and meaning of this quaint idea is as relevant today as ever.
I remember how it was a treat coming from Brooklyn. We dress up and go to the Automat in Manhattan before my aunt took us to the movies at Radio City Music Hall and watched the Rockettes before the feature. I loved looking at all the choices and then putting money in the slots and pulling out a soup or mac and cheese or a burger. It was modern technology at its finest, and I remembered seeing such a device on the Jetson’s animated show.
And then there were the really cool Dolphin-headed spouts that poured out coffee. I was too young to drink it, but loved refilling my aunt’s coffee just so I could pull down the exotic spout.
Decades later I got to show my nephews an Automat in Amsterdam which still has a thriving business.
The documentary is a tribute to what became the largest restaurant chain in the country at its time.
It started off as the idea between Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, who modeled it after a German restaurant that delivered pre-ordered meals by using a dumbwaiter that took the food to their desired spot. A predecessor to the vending machines, these Automats had real food freshly cooked and behind the wall was a fleet of cooks that kept the food coming.
But what really makes the Automat is the memories of the people who visited there. I remember so well looking through the windows to try to see where the food was coming from, but I’m in good and prestigious company.
Lisa managed to get interviews — the last interviews ever — of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as former Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, and the late great comedian Carl Reiner. She was able to get extensive, fun, poignant, interviews with these legends just before their passing.
But, perhaps the biggest coup for Lisa was getting to master performer Mel Brooks, who seems reluctant to be involved at first, and she records it all.
Brooks spent a lot of time at the Automat in Manhattan as a child. It was where a lot of starving actors and writers congregated because they couldn’t afford to dine anywhere else. Brooks tells a lot about his memories of the Automat, and the era, in the film, starting with a side trip to the graveyard of the Automat in Ellenville, NY where the remnants are located.
Mel Brooks vows to write a song for the movie, and then he is seen recording “At the Automat” with a full orchestra.
He brags, “I’m recognizable, I’m famous, make me the spearhead of selling this meshugenah documentary.” (That’s Yiddish for mad or crazy.)
Brooks loved to remember the lavish interiors of the Automats where women worked the nickel change booth and people of all walks of life appeared. It was a place, he says, that had “panache.”
Colin Powell, who lived nearby one of the Automats, recalls that it was one of the only restaurants his family could go to and it was mixed races of all kinds there. He loved the Salisbury steak.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg recalled how you could see really poor people next to fancy women dressed in furs.
Actor Elliott Gould related his New York memories at the Automat, and some archival clips show how it was used in many movies.
“Hide the silverware, her come the actors,” one worker at the Automat yells.
And the actors shown in or talking about the wonders of the Automat include archival footage of Audrey Hepburn, Bud Abbott, Tim Conway, Sid Caesar, Doris Day, James Dean, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Janet Leigh, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Leslie Uggams and many more.
The first known appearance of the Automat in a movie was the 1902 Silent Movie “The Belle Epoque.” And clips showing everyone from Jack Benny to Bugs Bunny are included.
Descendants of the founder of the creative idea, and others try to explain the importance of this nostalgic innovation which was unique for its time. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, admits that a childhood visit to an Automat helped inspire his idea for Starbucks.
This is a delightful documentary, just as perfect as that Automat cup of coffee. “The Automat” taps into nostalgia, history and easier times and is truly one of the most original documentaries ever made.
And, Lisa Hurwitz is not someone to be underestimated. No matter what the obstacles, she will get her project done, and it will be a gem when it’s completed. Like “The Automat.”
“The Automat” is coming out on DVD soon, and is still playing at select theaters, check out their website http://automatmovie.com for more details and to pre-order the DVD.
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