Cinema Series presents ‘The Automat’
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The next film in the Cinema Series at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is the charming documentary "The Automat," featuring cameos by Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Colin Powell, among others. It will be screened on Saturday and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
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. Relive the phenomena of America's original and most beloved restaurant chain with never-before-seen archival footage and photographs and a cast including celebrity customers, company executives, historians, and members of the Horn & Hardart families.
Richard Brody, in The New Yorker, calls the film "a delight." Peter Rainer, in the Christian Science Monitor, calls it "a celebration of what for so many people was among the happiest of times." Owen Gleiberman, in Variety, says the film "taps into so many resonant aspects of what America used to be that to watch it is to be drawn into an enchanting and wistfully profound time-tripping reverie." Tim Cogshell, in FilmWeek, calls the film " just fantastic." Unrated, "The Automat" runs one hour, 59 minutes.
c The Opera House is equipped with individualized closed captioning eyeglasses for the deaf as well as with assistive listening headsets for the hearing-impaired. Simply request one from any usher or Opera House staff member.
Opera House Executive Director Rick Davis notes that "because the transmission level in Chautauqua County has declined to a low status, masks are no longer required at Fredonia Opera House events. We do still encourage patrons to wear masks while in the venue; and staff and volunteers may continue to be masked."
The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is a member-supported not-for-profit performing arts center with a mission to "present the performing arts for the benefit of our community and region ... providing access to artistic diversity ... and high quality programming at an affordable price." It is located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.