The Automat

Watching this lovely documentary brought back such wonderful memories of my early childhood and as a young man. It was a thrill for my grandparents and in later years my parents to take me to the Automat. We lived in Manhattan so we always went to the 42nd & 3rd avenue location. It was a delicious and unforgettable experience for little money and at times met friends there as well. The interviews with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Ruth Badger Ginsberg, and Colin Powell, all sharing their favorite Automat memories make for delightful viewing. This documentary was made with love as was the food the Automat served.

The documentary is both wonderful and sad. The Automat owners held deep-seated democratic traditions that are entirely absent in businessman now. They said the public had a right to a clean, elegant and affordable eating establishment with quality coffee. They created a workplace with dignity and respect and in return gained loyal workers who took pride in their work, not only for themselves but for the public they served. The one criticism I have with Lisa Hurwitz is the inclusion of Starbucks owner Howard Schultz. Starbucks is the antithesis of the Automat: cold, uninviting, supremely individualistic and overpriced. Oh, and the coffee is mediocre.

I used to frequent the last automat, and I was very fond of it.

This made me a bit sad, though, because American business is no longer like it was. These guys STARTED by wanting to make a good restaurant, and figured that would make them money. Today, they just want to make money, and don't actually care about the product at all.

But it was a beautiful trip to a past time.

A business that took care of its employees, respected its customers and where everyone was everyone else. If you had a nickel, you mattered just as much as the person next to you. And apparently, the food was awfully good. I sit pondering the land of lunacy, stupidity and ignorance this always flawed but once reasonably bright, reasonably optimistic country that I grew up in,served and loved, has become,I can only cry,smile and laugh, and cry some more as I watched this wonderful film. Watching and hearing the shared joy and hope of those who graced it,I am glad they were able to eat the pie and drink the coffee and now have had the chance to remember it so fondly.

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.