20 films every child should watch

[Maurice]

Daily Telegraph 26/12/2011

Twenty films every child should watch -
From Charlie Chaplin to Hitchcock: a whole generation could miss out on the true power of cinema, charity claims

by Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor

For children reared on a diet of GCI blockbusters and 3D cartoon characters, the titles may be unfamiliar. but these are the films that experts believe schoolchildren should watch in order to understand the power of cinema.

Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, Alfred Hitchcock and Ealing comedies feature in the list compiled by FilmClub, an education charity that runs after-school screenings.

The organisation is urging parents and grandparents to introduce children to films from bygone eras.

Ellen E. Jones, the charity's chief programmer, said: "Young people should watch classic films for all the same reasons that they should watch great films in general - because a great film can change the way you see the world. Yet the majority of these are films which young people today might never hear about, let alone have the chance to see."

Ten Classics For Primary School Children

1. THE RED BALLOON (1956)
2. DUCK SOUP (1933)
3. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
4. OLIVER TWIST (1948)
5. THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951)
6. THE KID (1921)
7. MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947)
8. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
9. THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1940)
10. LA BELLE ET LA BETE (1946)


Ten Classics for Secondary School Children

1. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
2. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946)
3. METROPOLIS (1927)
4. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
5. THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963)
6. TWELVE ANGRY MEN (1957)
7. THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
8. KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949)
9. SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
10. THE LADYKILLERS (1955)

[Steve Crook]

Add Hugo to the list - that will educate them about old films and the importance of preserving them as well as thoroughly entertaining them

Steve

[torinfan]

"To Kill A Mockingbird"
"Great Expectations" (1946)

[Sgt Sunshine]

Also add "Gandhi" and "Schindlers List" to the secondary school list...

[Mark O]

Me mam told me in the 1930's the Rhondda Valley School she attended took them to a showing of 'Things to come', most of the kids came out of the Cinema absolutely terrified.

[Steve Crook]

Me mam told me in the 1930's the Rhondda Valley School she attended took them to a showing of 'Things to come', most of the kids came out of the Cinema absolutely terrified.

I'm not surprised. People really did think a modern war would be like the one shown with the bombers wiping out whole cities. Especially if they saw it after the bombing of Guernica in 1937 where the bombers were unopposed

Steve

[didi-5]

It's a fairly good list. I don't know about adding Hugo just yet, Steve, as it has only just been released (although of course I can understand why you're flying the flag for its inclusion). It does have the makings of a classic from what I have seen of it but this list is mostly 'the classics', i.e. the films which have been around for years and proved their staying power.

[ayrshireman]

Also add "Gandhi" and "Schindlers List" to the secondary school list...

No and yes.

The former is a sycophantic love letter that distorts and whitewashes a historical figure.
The latter, though imo a massively overrated film, is a work that shows children a terrible time in history that they need to understand.

[torinfan]

Secondary school - that's the equivalent to our high school - correct?

[jimw1]

Secondary school - that's the equivalent to our high school - correct?

[CaptainWaggett]

Secondary school - that's the equivalent to our high school - correct?

11-16 (or 18) rather than 14-18.

I'd rather kids saw a film actually made during the war than The Great Escape. The Way to the Stars or Millions Like Us? (to show that the war did involve ladies too ). In fact, do any of the secondary school choices have female protagonists?

[torinfan]

11-16 (or 18) rather than 14-18.

I'd rather kids saw a film actually made during the war than The Great Escape. The Way to the Stars or Millions Like Us? (to show that the war did involve ladies too ). In fact, do any of the secondary school choices have female protagonists?

So that would include junior high school, too. Thanks, Captain! :)

[Steve Crook]

In fact, do any of the secondary school choices have female protagonists?

Where would A Matter of Life and Death be without June (Kim Hunter)?

But they could have included some like the ones you mention or Carve Her Name With Pride

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Where would A Matter of Life and Death be without June (Kim Hunter)?

Steve

She's not the lead character though and her role is mostly passive (compared, for example with Alison in A Canterbury Tale). . Several of those films don't even have any speaking parts for women It's clearly a list aimed at the sort of boys who will grow up to be men who never read books by women and sneer at films targetted towards a female audience On both lists, only The Wizard of Oz and La Belle and La Bete have female protagonists (and Dorothy spends most of the time waiting for her friends to help her out ).

[Sgt Sunshine]

No and yes.

The former is a sycophantic love letter that distorts and whitewashes a historical figure.
The latter, though imo a massively overrated film, is a work that shows children a terrible time in history that they need to understand.

Which ones would you suggest ayrshireman......?
Cheers
Sgt S

[Steve Crook]

She's not the lead character though and her role is mostly passive (compared, for example with Alison in A Canterbury Tale).

She does spend most of the film gazing adoringly at Peter, my only complaint about the film. But she comes good at the end and is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice while Peter tries to talk his way out of it

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

She does spend most of the film gazing adoringly at Peter, my only complaint about the film. But she comes good at the end and is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice while Peter tries to talk his way out of it

Steve

Inspirational for young gels - telling them that women come good by sacrificing their lives for men

They should have put The Love Test on the list

[ayrshireman]

Which ones would you suggest ayrshireman......?
Cheers
Sgt S

I think List is a good film, I just dont think and never have thought that it is the 24 carat gold film that it is touted as. IMO thats more to do with the subject matter and the misguided belief that ergo a major film on the very important subject is a classic.

As for Gandhi, frankly I'd get the children to read a book on him. Mind you, too many from Western authors tend to be equally sycophantic and myth-indulging.

[Sgt Sunshine]

Gandhi's own biography..."The story of my experiments with Truth" would be a good place to start.....


Navajivan Trust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Best wishes
Sgt S

[Maurice]

My list would include:
THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)
REBECCA (1940)
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
HIGH NOON (1952)
THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957)
LORD OF THE FLIES (1963)