TV's 25 Scariest Episodes - #1 - One Step Beyond: 'The Clown'

October 31, 2:08 PMClassic TV ExaminerDoug Krentzlin

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Mickey Shaughnessy and Yvette Mimieux in "The Clown"
(ABC Broadcasting)

“There is nothing funny about a clown at midnight”

-- Lon Chaney, Sr.

Good ol’ Lon knew exactly what he was talking about. Let’s face it, clowns are creepy. And no other television show ever exploited that fact better than the episode of John Newland’s horror anthology One Step Beyond titled, appropriately, The Clown (originally broadcast on Mar. 22, 1960).

An 18-year-old Yvette Mimieux made her acting debut as Nonnie, child bride of psychotic small-town alcoholic Tom Regan (Christopher Dark). One night, they’re at the local bar so Tom can get his drunk on. In walks Pippo the Clown (Mickey Shaughnessy), a deaf-mute, handing out balloons in order to advertise the traveling carnival that just pulled into town.

Nonnie and Pippo hit it off immediately. He is especially entranced by his silky blonde hair. In a fit of jealous rage, Tom publicly humiliates his wife by grabbing a pair of scissors, cutting off a hunk of her hair and throwing it at Pippo.

Nonnie runs out of the bar in tears. She eventually seeks refuge in Pippo’s trailer. Tom tracks her down and savagely stabs her to death with the scissors. Pippo returns to find Nonnie’s dead body. The carnival employees automatically assume that Pippo is the culprit and lock him in the trailer until the local police arrive.

In the meantime, Tom wanders around town trying to calm his jittery nerves. The word “haunted” takes on a brand new meaning for him when he discovers, to his horror, that whenever he looks into a reflective surface like a window or a mirror, he sees Pippo sneaking up behind him…

One Step Beyond: The Clown can be seen for free on-line at YouTube.