I took it to mean the murderess was interesting (winning in keeping his interest), because she murdered her three children for their insurance money. To someone like Holmes, she must have been fascinating. Mary Morstan was charming and intelligent, but not fascinating.
He never says that. I took it to mean that she was, in other ways, a winning woman with exceptional other qualities, despite her also being a murderess.
I don’t think so. To think that because you found someone pleasant and engaging, they were in other ways like other people you found pleasant and engaging would be allowing personal qualities to affect your judgement. Holmes notes Mary’s charming manner, but doesn’t allow them to factor into his overall view of her one way or another.
Or maybe it was a parody of the “money shot” in porn films?
Because of this here Message Board, after dozens of times watching YF, I only recently noticed “The Candles” weren’t lit. And now I have to watch again to see this detail. Thank you! 
I figure the hypodermic thing could easily be the same sort of easter-eggy gag as the unlit candles: the kind of thing that was deliberately put in to make you go “Hey, wait a minute…” if you happen to notice it.
Anybody know whether Mel or anyone else involved in the movie has ever addressed this about the hypodermic? (I searched my Kindle version of Brooks’s book about the making of the movie, and he doesn’t mention it there.)
Inspired by the recent sad news re: Richard Lewis:
In an early Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, Larry inadvertently offends Richard’s dermatologist Dr. Grambs (who is Black) with a tasteless joke: “He’s your dermatologist? Even with the whole affirmative action thing?” At first, this made no sense to me: if Larry was implying that Dr. Grambs only got the job because of his race, shouldn’t he have said “because of” instead of “even with”? Later, I realized that Larry wasn’t implying that at all: he was joking that affirmative action should have qualified Dr. Grambs to practice in a more respected field of medicine.
I think you are reading too much into it. It’s the type of formal phrasing a Victorian gentleman would use.
In fact, Holmes’ lament against Watson’s announcement seems to be more that Watson will stop participating instead of having his new bride start helping.
No. Holmes is describing contrast. She is otherwise a pleasant, charming woman except she’s a murderess of children. Same thing the unpleasant gentleman is a philanthropist.
He’s not discussing any personal interest in the woman, especially for her criminality. He’s not discussing finding her fascinating. He’s noting that a personality does not necessarily reflect the totality of the person.
Which candles, the ones that open the bookcase? Is there some signifigance that they’re not lit?
No – the candles in the candelabra Frau Blucher is carrying as she conducts them up the stairs. Those candles should be lit, if she’s holding them to light their way. Only they aren’t.
I noticed this after a couple of viewings of the film, and found the fact that they did this – and that no one comments on it – a hilarious but subtle joke,
I think I’ve only seen Young Frankenstein once or twice and it’s been at least 20 years since I saw it, but I don’t think I knew Frau Blucher was Cloris Leachman until she said ‘would you care for a brandy’ and the voice clicked with my brain.
Frau Blucher does tell them to stay close to the light because the stairs are treacherous. But no one is brave enough to tell the scary woman that the candles are not lit.
[horses whinnying]
Blucher!
Man, I have to see that movie again, one of these times.
Huh? No I think you’ve still missed the joke. Larry is (jokingly) implying that because of affirmative action, a black doctor could be less skilled & smart and still graduate from Med school. So he’s feigning surprise that Richard would choose a black doctor.
It’s a pretty nasty joke, and it makes sense why everyone who hears about it gets offended. But Larry was saying it as a parody of a racist, he didn’t really mean it. Walking a very fine line there, and it only works with people who know you well.
I was in a conversation about movies we remembered watching as kids and The Boatniks was mentioned. And for the first time I realized the title was a pun on beatniks. Which was already a dated reference back in 1970 when the movie was released.
Ivan Reitman’s daughter in 1989:
.
and Ivan Reitman’s daughter in 2016
Spoiler if you don’t want the surprise, she’s Maureen Ponderosa in It’s Always Sunny.
Bugs Bunny cartoon What’s up, Doc (1950)
There are several scenes where it shows Bugs early in his career as part of a chorus. Bugs is happily singing along.
At the end of the cartoon, where he is appearing in his life story, it shows him in the chorus scene again–although, this time he has a decidedly POed look on his face, as if to say, “I’m back to doing this $hi+ again!”