Returning to cinema as a freelance actress, Lansbury found herself typecast as women older (sometimes far older) than herself in many films in which she appeared during this period. As she later stated, "Hollywood made me old before my time," noting that in her twenties she was receiving fan mail from people who believed her to be in her forties. She obtained minor roles in the films "A Life at Stake" (1954), "A Lawless Street" (1955) and "The Purple Mask" (1955), later describing the last as "the worst movie I ever made." She played Princess Gwendolyn in the comedy film "The Court Jester" (1956), before taking on the role of a wife who kills her husband in "Please Murder Me" (1956). From there she appeared as Minnie Littlejohn in "The Long Hot Summer" (1958), and as Mabel Claremont in "The Reluctant Debutante" (1958), which she filmed in Paris. Biographer Martin Gottfried said that it was these latter two cinematic appearances which restored Lansbury's status as an "A-picture actress". Throughout this period, she continued making appearances on television, starring in episodes of "Revlon Mirror Theatre", "Ford Theatre" and "The George Gobel Show", and became a regular on game show "Pantomime Quiz".