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      The Automat

      Released Feb 18, 2022 1 hr. 59 min. Documentary TRAILER for The Automat: Trailer 1 List
      98% 57 Reviews Tomatometer 86% Fewer than 50 Verified Ratings Audience Score Before fast food we had something better. Our grandparents told us stories of gathering around communal tables, sharing their lives, their struggles, and their dreams with strangers at The Automat. In the long awaited Horn & Hardart documentary relive the phenomena of America's original and most beloved restaurant chain. The one hundred year Automat saga serves up never before-seen archival footage and photographs and a cast including celebrity customers, company executives, historians, and members of the Horn & Hardart families. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Nov 25 Buy Now

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      The Automat

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      The Automat

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      Critics Consensus

      A wistful ode to a bygone era, The Automat will make viewers nostalgic for America's past -- and hungry for a meal at the titular diner.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Lester G Enjoyed the nostalgia. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/18/22 Full Review Nancy Charming and interesting! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/24/22 Full Review Lisa J The screening was canceled and Fandango never emailed me so I didn’t find out until I got to the theater. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/09/22 Full Review Gary H Wonderful look back on the life and times of a New York and Philadelphia institution. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/07/22 Full Review dave b I went to an Automat once as a child. I loved this movie. We need more documentaries similar to this. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/23/24 Full Review The Med City Movie Guy R For most of the 20th century the automat, a diner-setting fitted only with food vending windows, was a fixture both in large cities like New York and Philadelphia as well as in pop culture. The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz introduces (or re-introduces) these ubiquitous eateries with the help of the likes of Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Colin Powell recounting their own visceral and gastric connections to these cafeterias who at their peak fed nearly 800,000 people per day. One of the more interesting and enjoyable documentaries of the last decade and precisely what a good documentary should be: the presentation and preservation of a unique facet of our shared culture. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/04/24 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Automat

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      The Automat

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (57) Critics Reviews
      Ty Burr Ty Burr's Watch List Short and sweet, “The Automat” is a fond remembrance of a vanished era – the past seen through a tiny glass window. Rated: 3/4 May 13, 2022 Full Review Mark Feeney Boston Globe Hurwitz takes a terrific subject and treats it with undisguised, and justified, affection. What’s most impressive about “The Automat” is how much ground it covers. Rated: 3/4 May 12, 2022 Full Review Sarah Jane Austin Chronicle The Automat is rather like a nickel slice of pie or bowl of mac & cheese you’d get from one of their restaurants. It’s not fancy, but it’s good. May 12, 2022 Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Director Lisa Hurwitz has made an absolute delight of a documentary telling a seemingly non-essential and yet totally essential piece of forgotten history. Rated: 3.5/4 Dec 11, 2022 Full Review Tom O'Brien Next Best Picture And memories are where the meat of “The Automat” lies, as Hurwitz has collected a wide array of testimonials — some from celebrities, others everyday folks — to fondly share what the automat meant to them. Rated: 7/10 Dec 5, 2022 Full Review Raquel Stecher Out of the Past What The Automat documentary excels at is offering viewers a contextual history of how this business was born, how it thrived and how it became part of the social fabric of New York City and Philadelphia. Nov 21, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Before fast food we had something better. Our grandparents told us stories of gathering around communal tables, sharing their lives, their struggles, and their dreams with strangers at The Automat. In the long awaited Horn & Hardart documentary relive the phenomena of America's original and most beloved restaurant chain. The one hundred year Automat saga serves up never before-seen archival footage and photographs and a cast including celebrity customers, company executives, historians, and members of the Horn & Hardart families.
      Director
      Lisa Hurwitz
      Screenwriter
      Michael Levine
      Distributor
      A Slice of Pie Productions
      Production Co
      A Slice of Pie Productions
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Feb 18, 2022, Limited
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $257.4K
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