The automat
(DVD) 

The song "(The was nothing like the coffee) At the automat" written and performed by Mel Brooks.

Originally released as a motion picture in 2021.

Program content: 2021.

Wide screen.

Bonus features: new audio introduction by Mel Brooks; audio commentary by director Lisa Hurwitz; extended interview with Mel Brooks; Horn and Hardart archival footage.

Director of photography, Philip Lucas ; editor, Michael Levine, Russell Greene ; music, Hummie Mann.

Performer, Mel Brooks; interviewees, Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Wilson Goode, Elliott Gould, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Howard Schultz, Alec Shuldiner.

The Automat recounts the lost history of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, which served affordable food to millions of New Yorkers and Philadelphians for more than a century. Founded by Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart in 1888, it revolutionized the nation's restaurant scene with technology that captured the public's imagination like nothing else the customer put nickels into slots, and little windows opened to reveal the customer's pick, be it a slice of pie, macaroni, and cheese, or a Salisbury steak. The chain welcomed those who had been ignored, including immigrants, the working class, Blacks, and women, all of whom were often not welcome in restaurants. Featuring interviews with Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, and Elliott Gould, The Automat illustrates how the company both served the public with great food and at the same time treated its employees with fairness and integrity.

DVD; NTSC, Region 1; widescreen presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio, 16x9); 2.0 stereo.

For private home use only.

English dialogue; English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing (SDH); closed-captioned in English.

Official selection: Telluride Film Festival