MODESTO — Nine classic films, including a musical, an action adventure, a western, a fantasy, a screwball comedy and several dramas will fill the big screen of Modesto’s historic State Theatre during 2010 as the Film Society celebrates its sixth anniversary.

The Sound of Music opens the 2010 season on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. Other films include All About Eve on Sunday, Feb. 21; The Wizard of Oz, on Sunday, March 21; Sunset Boulevard on Sunday, April 18; It Happened One Night on Sunday, May 16; Duel in the Sun on Sunday, July 18; For Whom the Bell Tolls on Sunday, September 19; Judgment at Nuremburg on Sunday, Oct. 17, co sponsored by the Stanislaus County Bar Association; and Ben Hur on Sunday, Nov. 21.

Many films will be accompanied by period newsreels, cartoons and serials, film trivia contests, giveaways and a pre-film organ concert.

Tickets are $8 each and may be obtained at the door, at the State Theatre box office on weekdays between noon and 3 p.m., and at the State’s website: www.thestate.org. Discounts are available to Film Society members. Film goers are encouraged to come in costumes appropriate to each film.

More information on the nonprofit Modesto Film Society, a community-based nonprofit group dedicated to preserving this country’s cinematic heritage, is available at www.modestofilm.org, at 521-8772 or modestofilm@aol.com.