NIGHTMARE! October 1, 1957

[Monsters For Sale]

On October 1st, 1957 the Universal Horror package starting airing on broadcast TV.

In the Los Angeles area, the hosting program was local station Channel 5's "Nightmare!" with the horror hostess "The Old Lady" played by veteran actress Ottola Nesmith.  Nesmith was one of the uncredited disapproving ladies in "The Wolf Man" - just one of 10 movies she appeared in that year!  She also starred in the Boris Karloff "Thriller" series episode "Pigeons From Hell".



                                               Ottola Nesmith - Nightmare - The Old Lady



                             Ottola Nesmith - Thriller - Pigeons From Hell


"Nightmare!" premiered with "Frankenstein".  The second week they showed "Werewolf of London".  I was 10 years old and in monster kid heaven.  (It was 65 years ago, and I still remember my excitement.)


I picked up this original ad from eBay:


FRANKENSTEIN - Ad - Nightmare - TV-Radio Life - October 1, 1957


I cropped it:




And messed around with eliminating the yellowed paper:




I think there is a T-shirt in there somewhere.

[Mike Scott]

Fascinating! I was familiar with the show's title but didn't know any of the details. Photos are great!

And messed around with eliminating the yellowed paper:

If you want to get rid of yellowing (on a b/w image), just convert it to greyscale. Poof, gone! 

[Sir Masksalot]

I was way too young to appreciate the premiere of "Nightmare" back then
but that ad is amazing. Thanks for posting it, MonstersForSale.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wow, that's awesome! I had no idea about Ottola Nesmith. "Pigeons From Hell" is one of the best, and probably the scariest, episodes of Thriller.

[skully]

Superb info!!!  I like the cyclops painting on the wall behind her.

[Monsters For Sale]

Ottola Nesmith was not Nightmare!'s "The Old Lady" for very long.

Although she WAS the uncredited Mrs. Bally in 1941's The Wolf Man, she claimed (on air) to be Mae Clarke in 1931's Frankenstein.  Mae Clarke was NOT amused and sued for a large amount of money.  The suit was settled for a much smaller amount, but I guess the show's producers didn't want to continue with a troublemaker.

Tom Weaver discusses this in his excellent The Wolf Man commentary.

Still, she was the first in my broadcast area and will always hold a place in my heart.

[Mike Scott]

she claimed (on air) to be Mae Clarke in 1931's Frankenstein. 

So, she claimed that her name was Mae Clarke, or that she played the part instead of Mae Clarke?

[Monsters For Sale]

So, she claimed that her name was Mae Clarke, or that she played the part instead of Mae Clarke?

She claimed she WAS Mae Clarke!

Mae objected to having people think she now looked like a bargain basement Margaret Hamilton.

[Mike Scott]

She claimed she WAS Mae Clarke!

Yeah, that's what I meant.

[BigShadow]

Wow, never heard of "Nightmare."  Thanks for the info and photos.

[Monsters For Sale]

Ottola Nesmith's "Old Lady" horror hostess was chronicled in Life Magazine - the source for the first picture in this thread.

She was also discussed in Famous Monsters of Filmland, Issue Number 1 - February, 1958.

Nightmare! premiered two weeks before my 11th birthday and paved the way for my last Halloween in grammar school.  Although the local kiddie matinee featured an occasional Classic Monster offering, most of my big screen experience had been 50's sci-fi. 

What a great time to be a monster kid!

[marsattacks666]

Nightmare, I never heard of. Thank you for posting this .