Anyway, I look at the DVDBeaver review for An Affair to Remember and I can't help but think the picture looks sort of "stretched" in the screen captures. I also noticed this on The Bridge on the River Kwai's transfer and I found it quite distracting in my viewing.
Robert Harris explains:
Quote:
Because CinemaScope films were photographed through lenses, be their prime or adapter, which compressed the image, the resultant image was never as sharp as might be attained from a pure prime lens. As to the "mumps," it was an optical distortion which made anything center screen appear wider, and anything at the far end, narrower. It was unavoidable, especially with short focal length original CinemaScope optics. AAtR is filled with wonderful examples.