Hundreds of old Chinese film prints were discovered in the warehouse of the Music Palace, a once-popular movie theater in Chinatown, which was recently sold for over $14 million. The prints were discovered in a basement storage area, when the new owners were making plans to rebuild and the architects surveyed the building, in order to draw up new plans. Between 400 and 500 movies were found, although the quality of the prints is unknown.

Depending on how you look at it, the prints are treasure to some people and garbage for others, William Su said, one of the new owners. He plans to catalogue the prints and then give them to “people who will appreciate them.”

The prints, including Kung Fu, comedy and drama, provide insight into the history of the film industry in Hong Kong from the 1970s to the 1990s. Some are titillating pornographic B-movies. According to some people, years ago there were theaters in Chinatown known for showing pornographic movies.

The Music Palace is now old and shabby. The 400 seats are all torn and the screen is nowhere near the standard of today’s movie theaters.

Yet, it had a glorious history and meant a lot for many Chinese. Jack, a travel agent, remembered that he used to hang around the theater and bring girlfriends to the movies at the Palace. The second floor was known as a gathering place for teenagers.

It would be very hard for people now to imagine waiting in line to see a film there, but that is how it was at the height of the Music Palace. Some Chinatown elders can still recall the many stars they saw in the theater.