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Somebody needs to familiarize Studio Canal with the concept of OAR (Original Aspect Ratio). If a film was created to be shown 1.33:1, then it shouldn't be "anamorphically enhanced" (top & bottom of frame cut off) for widescreen televisions. I've now heard of two films "anamorphically enhanced" by Studio Canal -- "Seven Days to Noon" (1950) and "The Man Between" (1953) . This is a disturbing trend that must be stopped!

Here's a clue -- if it was made before "The Robe" (1953 widescreen CinemaScope film from Fox that ushered in the widescreen era), then it's supposed to be shown 1.33:1 (aka 4x3).

From "Seven Days to Noon - Boulting"

As Michael Brooke points out in email "There is absolutely no way that a film released in 1950 could have been intentionally composed for the 1.66:1 European widescreen ratio, as this wouldn't be introduced for another few years.
The film should 100% definitely be in 4:3, in line with literally every other British film being made at the time.
So Optimum have equally definitely got it wrong - I suspect they cropped it so they could justify anamorphic enhancement, but just look how tight the headroom is in your grabs!"

From the Cheap Seats… » Reed All About It…

The Man Between is part of Optimum’s excellent UK R2 James Mason: Screen Icon Collection. There’s an oddity inasmuch as it’s presented in anamorphic 1.66:1, and I’m almost certain this 1953 film was framed for Academy; the German R2, I am told, is presented full frame. Wide, The Man Between is a little tight and there are too many shots that leave tops of the actors heads out of the top of the frame. It may be that it’s one of those films that was indeed shown wide, as the widescreen boom took hold, but I’m not entirely convinced it was shot that way. In fact, I’m nigh on certain it wasn’t.