TServo4 wrote:

Also, while the film was exhibited in Universal's new 1.85:1 ratio wide-screen system in many venues, it was not composed for that ratio. Production was in February of 1953, when flat wide-screen was soon to come, but still just a gleam in a technician's eye.

How did that work in practice. Was it a case of slap the mattes on and hope for the best, or was a selective hard matte?

Ironically, Glen Erickson's DVD Savant review claims: "Weaver refers several times to 'this widescreen presentation' of the movie, obviously not knowing that Uni was going to go the cheap route with a flat transfer."