This list is from 2005, but I can't find that it has been discussed before here. It's a pretty good list. I have seen most of these films, but I certainly didn't see them before I was 14...more like once I was in college.

Here's the list and wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFI_lis..._the_age_of_14

The British Film Institute provides only an alphabetical listing of the top ten recommended movies. They are:

Bicycle Thieves (1948)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Kes (1969)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The 400 Blows (1959)
Show Me Love (1998)
Spirited Away (2001)
Toy Story (1995)
Where is the Friend's House? (1987)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The rest are:

A Day at the Races (1937)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Au revoir, les enfants (1987)
Back to the Future (1985)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Billy Elliot (2000)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Finding Nemo (2003)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
The Kid (1921)
King Kong (1933)
Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998)
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)
My Life as a Dog (1985)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Oliver Twist (1948)
The Outsiders (1983)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Play Time (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Railway Children (1970)
The Red Balloon (1956)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
The Secret Garden (1993)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
To Be and to Have (2002)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Walkabout (1971)
Whale Rider (2002)
Whistle Down the Wind (1961)
The White Balloon (1995)

I have an (almost) 3 year old. She's seen a few of these. Her first film was Bicycle Thieves but she was weeks old and asleep. She really likes Totorro and both Beaty and the Beast films. She was somewhat interested in Robin Hood, liked the horses. She loves Finding Nemo. Some of these I wouldn't show a kid until they were at least 6-8 years old. Only real head scratcher on here is Playtime, I can't see a young person getting anything out of that.

I would say the list is slanted a bit British and excludes two important films about the American adolesent experience, Stand By Me and American Grafitti. 2001 should be on the list. Frankenstein should be on the list, particularly if you're going to show them Spirit of the Beahive.

A list from the British Film Institute slanted British? Surely, you jest.

There are some interesting choices on that list, some I agree and don't agree with. However, The 400 Blows?

For some of those films I don't think a kid would have the patience to sit through and not be bored.

Well, that settles it. I'm going to invite all of the neighborhood kids over to my basement for the "Night of 400 Blows"!

I saw four of these before I turned 14:
THE WIZARD OF OZ
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
KING KONG
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

Of course, of the 50, 30 of them were made AFTER I turned 14.

How many did my daughter see before she turned 14?
By my count, 19, including the four I listed, although she's not available to consult right now. And she was older than 14 when a handful of them came out.

Do I agree with the list? I don't know. Some of them I have a kneejerk reaction against, only to ponder it and think...why not? E.g. 400 BLOWS, BICYCLE THIEVES, and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. I think kids might be able to appreciate the latter better than I did. I'd need to know the authors' rationales for including certain things.

Some of these films would have to be shown in a school setting where there'd be discussion and some context provided and a teacher explaining why they were being shown. Sometimes I think that with kids and classic films, the younger the better, before they've been completely brainwashed by contemporary pop culture.

Combine that with a reading of "Mr Bumpus is a Tranvestite Prostitute" and you've got a winner.

Before I turned 14 I had seen twelve of the films listed. I think.

Five

I've only seen 12 of those in my whole life. Only 7 were before I was 14. Some weren't even out by the time I was 14.

Seen around 12 of them before/during turning 14, though some of them...didn't exist then.

Total I've seen is 21 of those. Though I'm disappointed by a lack of The Thief of Bagdad.

Why 14? Seems like a pretty random age...

I would not have sat through "The 400 Blows" when I ws 14. Same could probably be said of most 'art' films. I wasn't close to mature enough yet.

By age fourteen I'd seen:

A Day at the Races (1937)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
King Kong (1933)
The Outsiders (1983)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Railway Children (1970)
The Red Balloon (1956)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

...either on TV or in a theater. I've seen all but ten of the fifty titles overall.

Before age fourteen my kids have seen:

A Day at the Races (1937)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Back to the Future (1985)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Finding Nemo (2003)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
King Kong (1933)
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)
Play Time (1967)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Red Balloon (1956)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Toy Story (1995)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

...either on TV or in a theater. We might try Whale Rider someday. Don't have any current plans to sit down with the fam and watch Fucking Åmål, though.

In England, when you are 15 you can go to their equivelent of our "rated R" movies.

Luther, by showing your kids classic and "art" films did it encourage a love of film or did it become like, "My dad makes me watch all these funky movies."? Part of me wants to foster a love of great films in my daughter, but another part of me realizes that I found my own way into classic films and that's what made it special. If my parents had tried to sit me down every weekend and show me Top Hat and Mon Oncle and Germany Year Zero I would have been disinterested. You kind of have to "want" to watch a great film.

That's what I was thinking.

By the age of 14 you should see Requiem for a Dream & Christiane F.
Make you think twice about messing with drugs.

I dunno, Mabuse. Parents can play a major role in influencing their children's appreciation of movies. If you sit your kids down and watch certain classic movies with them when they're young, they'll have a wider range of tastes when they get older. I actually treasure those memories of watching movies with my dad when I was a kid. He let me stay up late with him to watch BEAU GESTE (1938) one night. And he loved talking about old movies, too. My mother's favorite movie was CASABLANCA, so we were all curious to see it. Granted, old movies were on TV all the time when I was a kid, so it was easier to get immersed in them. Parents didn't have to do the work they have to do today (and which most of them don't do).

When my daughter was growing up, it was easier to expose her to classic movies before we got cable (when she was around 8), so I had her watch Shirley Temple movies with me, and old cartoons. I took her to see two of my childhood big screen favorites, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, at revival theaters when she was little. Even after we got cable, when all she wanted to watch was Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network, I had her sit down with me to watch American Movie Classics and films like JANE EYRE and PAL JOEY.

And I know other parents who did the same thing. But then there's the case of my older brother, who has three sons. I used to lend them anime and Hong Kong action films all the time, but when I found out they'd never seen any westerns, I was furious at my brother and I stopped lending them anime and HK films. Instead I took a stack of western DVDs over and said...these or nothing. And they liked them.

Oh no, I can't suggest a movie to my kids. They're fiercely independent and won't hear it. All those except E.T. - which my two oldest kids hated - were their own choices. I've found it best to let them decide what they want to watch and I let them know whether it's OK. If it was up to them, they'd watch every movie in the house. My oldest daughter (8) wanted to watch The Man Who Fell to Earth the other day and I had to let her know it involved topics I didn't think she was old enough to understand. She negotiated her way into seeing it up to Rip Torn's appearance.

Several of those came out after I was 14. Guess I blew it.

Sounds like the night was a success, Groucho!

Close to half of those movies were released after I turned 14. It's a decent list though.

Interesting, thanks. What made her want to watch The Man Who Fell to Earth? BTW, I was 28 when I first saw Rip Torn's cock and I still haven't recovered, so you made the right decision.

I'm pretty sure I saw The 400 Blows when I was 15 or 16 and I loved it. I'm sure I would've still loved it if I saw it a year or two earlier.

I think it was just seeing the cover and realizing David Bowie was in it.

It seems to be movies kids should see before high school.