In 1953, Paramount's "War of the Worlds" played at the Lakewood Theater.  This was the era of widescreen exhibition and it wasn't unusual for theaters to alter a film's original  1:33 Academy ratio image for their new screens utilizing aperture plates and different lenses.  Thus, films like "War of the Worlds" and "Them" were shown in a variety of aspect ratios during their initial release.  "War of the Worlds" also was available in stereophonic sound. (LB Independent)