Is it true that the intended ratio for this was actually 1.66 or 1:85? As a 1954 movie I was very surprised to see that my copy was widescreen. I searched a bit online and, from what it sounds like, studios were already distributing two aspect ratios of some movies, including this one, and that TCM plays the widescreen version. However, IMDB lists both 1.85 and 1.37 as "theatrical" ratios, not being clear about the intended one.
shareDuring that time, theatrical presentations were in a state of flux. To curb dropping attendance, a move was made to present films big and thus Cinerama and Cinemascope. But not all theatres were equipped to handle those and thus an alternate approach was made where a film was shot full frame and projected "wide" using mattes and enlarging the image. The largest of these "soft widescreen" aspect ratios is 1.85:1 and another one used (used by Paramount) is 1.66:1.
Even so, every theater had different capabilities. Thus films were shot using a "shoot and protect" method where you ensure there's not too much cropping to lose essential viewing information and there's not too much headroom as to reveal equipment and furthermore could be projected in multiple aspect ratios. This is what Boris Kauffman had to do when shooting *On the Waterfront*.
1.33:1 was the negative ratio and was a possible aspect ratio to project the film. It was also what shown exclusively in a home video format.
1.85:1 was what was premiered in 1954 and the preferred aspect ratio for Columbia Pictures at the time for their motion pictures.
1.66:1 was a ratio used by Boris Kauffman in other pictures as evidenced by the pictures he shot for Sidney Lumet (think *12 Angry Men* or *The Fugitive Kind*).
The wonderful thing is that *On the Waterfront* still works no matter the aspect ratio. Obviously there's a different feeling to each one. 1.33:1 reveals more of the surrounding environment while the 1.85:1 demonstrates more intensity when close-ups appear. 1.66:1 strikes a nice balance between the two. With the Criterion Blu-ray/DVD, you can have a choice.
(Yes this is me being a fan of Criterion. In fact, they did a nice presentation about this very issue: http://youtu.be/s7-aMi4Rr-4 )