Bill Sturrup, a veteran Canadian broadcaster, remembers falling in love with the silver screen when going to the movies was an event and a weekly ritual. The then six-year-old lad would walk to the nearby theaters and plunk down his admission to take in the latest Superman serial -- and that started his love affair with the movies. It seems fitting that decades later, this film lover would be president of The Toronto Film Society, established in 1948 as a non-profit organization for the study and appreciation of motion pictures.

“Toronto Film Society is heading toward our 60th year,” Sturrup said. “It is a group of people who like to watch old movies and sometimes quite obscure films in a theater style setting with people who also like film, and it is a fun thing. We don’t do film production, we don’t heavily analyze film. We like to see old film that is largely unavailable now.” The group is interested in films that are not necessarily considered classics.

The society has scheduled two series for 2005-2006 -- both in downtown Toronto. One, for those who enjoy watching films on a Sunday afternoon in a theater setting, is held at the Innis College Town Hall. The Monday Film Buff's series takes place at night in the George Ignatieff Theatre. Each series runs for seven weeks. Even more enticing to returning and potential members is the popular annual visit to Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., which has an outstanding collection of films that have not been seen by the public in over half a century.

Sturrup thinks modern theaters have both good and bad points. “You are getting to see today’s films with outstanding sound -- digital sound -- in a fairly comfortable atmosphere. Yes, it does cost you a lot to get in. The days of a family going to a theatre anymore are just about out of reality. A night out with the family is now long gone. The only good thing to me is the quality of projection in most cases and the sound for today’s modern films.”

Feeling strongly that movies are an art, Sturrup took a moment to consider if there was any time the medium could be viewed as not artistic. “I don’t know if there is ever an instance where film is not an art,” he said. “The type of art it is may be an art that takes it to the bottom level of being able to make people laugh and enjoy themselves or to get a little frightened and scared. Is it technically an artistic film? Does it have deep-rooted meaning? The art of being able to go to a film these days and just sit there. It’s a no-brainer escape from reality for a couple of hours and you can just enjoy.”

“There are some reviewers, who maybe harken back to the old days, that go to any film looking for something deep and meaningful. I have been to a number of films that were trashed, and I came out sure it wasn’t technically artistically possible to be a good film, but it was fun. When I was growing up that used to be what the movies were for.”

These days it seems that movies are big on explosions, and they lack plot and solid performances. “There are some good screenplays still being written,” Sturrup said. “Now, you get the flash, trash and dash type of thing.There are films where the producers feel they have to put out these types of thing because they have the sound-systems that will blow you out of your seat. They want to make use of the explosive sound.”

One of the main concerns of The Toronto Film Society involves handing down a knowledge and love of old, obscure films to young people. But so far it's been a challenge for the group to attract young people to the fold. “ Our demographics are those of older people,” Stirrup said. “Through the sound era into the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s there was a passing down, but now more and more with the world getting busier it seems there are less people who are into it...Students  in film classes are still seeing some of the classics. We at Toronto Film Society are interested in those that aren’t classics but pioneering in film,” he said.

The Toronto Film Society, which began its 58th season on October 16th, runs screenings through March 2006. For more information or to register for membership visit http://www.interlog.com/~tfs.