Suit Filed Over Format of DVDs

A Los Angeles man filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., accusing the company of cheating film buffs who buy the widescreen versions of the studio’s DVDs.

The complaint by Warren Eallonardo, an aspiring screenwriter, alleges that MGM, video rental giant Blockbuster Inc. and four retailers misled consumers by selling widescreen DVDs that presented significantly less of the picture than was shown in theaters. Instead of using the conventional letterbox format, which shrinks a film to fit the width of a TV, the complaint accuses MGM of cropping all sides of at least five films into a bogus letterbox format.

Spokesmen for MGM, Blockbuster and the other defendants were either unavailable or declined to comment because they had not seen the lawsuit.

The complaint, which was filed by law firm Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Pearson of Tarzana, seeks refunds and punitive damages for any consumers who bought widescreen DVDs from MGM over the last four years.

-- Jon Healey