I’m watching it now and I don’t see any Panavision but pan and scan.
I missed the chance to see the movie when it played in our town in the summer of 1959, but I later saw a bootleg DVD of it. I also read the book by Lloyd Douglas, which disappointed me because it differs considerably from the biblical account.
That is disappointing. Especially considering that TCM has been very good about airing widescreen films in letterbox. Perhaps pan-and-scan is the only version available. I’m still DVR-ing it since it’s so hard to find a copy of it.