It's probably not cropped like how you think it is. It is still within the filmmaker's intent. Lot of the movies made in the 1950's were filmed with multiple aspect ratios in mind because that was the time when film industry were transitioning to the widescreen format.
In the beginning of transition, not lot of theaters could afford the renovation to upgrade to widescreen, so filmmakers made lot of their movies with multiple aspect ratios so it can show in ALL of the theaters without cutting off important images like somebody's head or something. So new widescreen theaters get the widescreen print, and old theater gets the other print. And both ratios will show the information that filmmakers intended.
Great example of this is the Criterion release of "On the Waterfront"
Criterion release of that film includes 3 different aspect ratios because that's how they filmed it. It's not simply removing the top and bottom image. The widescreen version actually shows more picture on the sides than the 1.33:1 while 1.33:1 would show more on the top and bottom but lose some side information. No one ratio will show everything. That's why Criterion released all 3 aspect ratios on their blu-ray. (There is nice short featurette about it too) - GREAT movie and blu-ray release.
So I don't think any movies made in the 1950's to be cropped. We are still getting the proper release that filmmakers intended. 1950's movies are just a special case.
|