  The IR optical absorption (0.1-1.5 eV) in the $La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_3$ films
on LAO substrate exhibits the drastic temperature evolution of the spectral
weight evidencing the insulator to metal transition. Single crystal films were
found to reveal strong linear dichroism with anomalous spectral oscillations
and fairly weak temperature dependence. Starting from the concept of phase
separation, we develop the effective medium model to account for these effects.
The optical anisotropy of the films is attributed to the texturization of the
ellipsoidal inclusions of the quasimetal phase caused by a mismatch of the film
and substrate and the twin texture of the latter.
