The first X-rated (18) film to win an Oscar, John Schlesinger's bleak street-life drama features top-notch performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Voight is Joe Buck, the Texan dreamer who travels to New York intending to make his fortune as a gigolo; Hoffman is the ailing Rizzo who becomes friends with Joe after attempting to scam him. The lump in the throat moment has got to be when Rizzo is dying on the bus to Miami, and Joe holds him in his arms with tender friendship.

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Written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin, The Kid stands as one of the comedian's most successful films, a satirical - and partly biographical - look at life in the slums of London. Chaplin's Tramp takes care of an abandoned child in a 'picture with a smile, and perhaps a tear', as the opening title card hints. The scene in which Chaplin and the child are fighting off the social workers intent on separating them certainly evokes the latter.

Ridley Scott revived the Roman epic with computer-generated imagery and a mighty performance from Russell Crowe. When Roman general Maximus (Crowe) is double-crossed by the dangerous, nay deranged, new emperor Joaquin Phoenix, all he wants is to avenge his family. The experienced soldier fights his way up the gladiatorial league charts until he's the darling of the Colosseum and gets his chance for revenge over the emperor. Those watching Gladiator will be moved by Crowe's visions of his family in the afterlife, as he lies dying. Even more poignant is the sight of the late Oliver Reed, giving it all, in his final ever film.

And here's one we made earlier. Blue Peter is the stuff of children's TV legend and began being broadcast in 1958. Presenters have come and gone, but it's the animals that cause the most grief to the show's producers in terms of upsetting the kids. Most famous, is the story of the first Blue Peter pet Petra, a mongrel puppy introduced on the show wrapped in Christmas paper in 1962. Unfortunately, the dog died two days later, leaving the producers scrambling around trying to find an identical dog, so as not to upset viewers. Petra II fooled the kids and stayed on the show until 1977. On Petra's death, the grief among the nation's school children was so overwhelming that a bronze statue of the dog was put up at the front of the BBC.

Dirk Bogarde plays an ageing composer who reassesses his life when his eyes alight on a beautiful teenage boy in Luchino Visconti's majestic film. His character, Von Aschenbach, has lived by a restrictive moral code, but he finds salvation in the angelic-looking boy. Unfortunately, Aschenbach is dying, leading to a heartbreaking scene where he lies on the beach watching the boy, knowing that his time is over.

The TV phenomenon that has transformed ordinary people into popstars (as well as the size of Simon Fuller's wallet) really knows how to stir up emotion in the audience. Not only must they sit through the excruciating open castings, where some of the world's worst singers try to sing like Robbie Williams, but also then watch in horror as one of the tearful hopefuls gets voted out each week. The show's most moving moment came in Popstars The Rivals, when a weeping Pete was forced to admit he was too old to be in One True Voice.

Mel Gibson charts the agony of Christ's final hours in this controversial and bloody telling of the Gospels. On course to being the biggest grossing film of all time, The Passion Of The Christ didn't give Mel Gibson's bank manager anything to cry about, but for Christians around the world watching the fate of Christ touched a nerve. Unbearably violent, this blockbuster retelling of the crucifixion has left many weeping in their cinema seats.

Bette Davis steals the show in this atmospheric glum to glamour chick flick. Charlotte Vale (Davis) is dominated by her bossy mother, but is transformed by a sympathetic doctor. She embarks upon an ill-fated love affair with a married man, which leads not to a successful union with him, but a close friendship with his daughter. The stirring final scene sees Davis declare 'Why ask for the moon when we can have the stars?'

It's a tough job making a film about children without being sentimental, but director Nicolas Philibert achieves it effortlessly with this documentary charting the final term of French schoolteacher Georges Lopez. Monsieur Lopez is a wise, heroic figure, only letting his composure slip at the very end of term when he's wishing the children good luck for the future. The audience however, will be shedding tears long before that at the touching moment when he talks philosophically with a boy whose father is ill.

An early nineties cornerstone of Saturday morning kids telly, Live And Kicking was the first time a BBC children's show became a brand to outlive the departure of presenters. Having been promoted out of Going Live's broom cupboard, Andi Peters was the original Live And Kicking co-host (alongside Emma Forbes). After a glorious three years, Peters announced his departure from the Beeb in March 1996. His last show was a hubbub of bawling, as Peters sobbed uncontrollably and Forbes struggled to control herself. Between the pair of them, the show was a snivelling mess.