2021, USA, 79 min.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Automat, a Philadelphia and New York dining fixture for decades, was all ornate chrome, marble and enchantment. Patrons fed nickels into a window to grab food\u2014from creamed spinach to coconut cream pies\u2014all<\/span>,<\/span> freshly made. Anybody could dine out in style. Director Lisa Hurwitz\u2019s wistful, insightful documentary covers the chain eatery\u2019s rise in the early part of the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century (more women working in cities) and its precipitous fall in the 1950s and <\/span>\u2018<\/span>60s (the exodus to the suburbs; the presence of frozen foods). The film\u2019s charm, though, comes from former patrons\u2019 childhood memories. Mel Brooks marvels over the Automat\u2019s perfect coffee; Ruth Bader Ginsburg recalls dropping in after her piano lesson. Hurwitz, who was in her early 20s when she started filming in 2013, shows how past cultural institutions in America have emotional resonance and an impact on today\u2019s standbys. To wit, Howard Shultz credits his childhood visit to an Automat with inspiring his own chain\u2014Starbucks.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Automat, a Philadelphia and New York dining fixture for decades, was all ornate chrome, marble and enchantment. <\/span><\/p>\n