Yuan Muzhi directs and stars in a movie about a young intelligentsia who wavers between a Western lifestyle and the Revolutionary cause. Soundtrack contains "March of the Volunteers," which went on to become the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. 1935, B&W, Mandarin Chinese. Also known as "Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm."

Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm () is a 1935 in film Cinema of China, also known as Children of Troubled Times, about an intellectual who leaves to fight against Japanese aggression. The movie was directed by Xu Xingzhi and the scriptwriters were Tian Han and Xia Yan. It starred actor Yuan Muzhi and actress Wang Renmei.

Plot
The plot follows the young poet Xin Baihe (played by Yuan Muzhi) who flees Shanghai with his friend Liang. However, whereas Liang soon joins the resistance against the Empire of Japan invaders, Xin chooses to pursue a relationship with a glamorous and westernized widow in Qingdao.
After hearing that Liang has been killed however, Xin has a change of heart and rushes to join the war effort.
Communist themes

The film was a strongly left-leaning production, produced by the leftist Diantong Film Company. It was based on a story by Tian Han, a card-carrying Communist party member since 1932, who was arrested shortly after it was published. In addition, it starred Yuan Muzhi, who would join the Communists in 1940 and had music by the Communist composer Nie Er.
The story itself, with its tale of a member of the literati who learns to abandon the decadence of western culture for self-sacrifice was also a common theme among many of the leftist films of the period.
Theme song ("The March of the Volunteers")


File:Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm.ogv
The theme song to the movie, "March of the Volunteers", was sung by Gu Menghe and Yuan Muzhi. The song was released as an album by the Pathé Records label (which later became part of EMI in 1935).
"March of the Volunteers" was selected as the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in 1949. This decision was formally written into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in March 2004.