As Fassbinder was embroiled in a controversy over his stage play Der M*ll, die Stadt und der Tod he was not ready for starting to shoot the film and withdrew to Paris, where he worked on the screenplay for Berlin Alexanderplatz. Fengler was dreaming of an international star cast for the film. On his suggestion Fassbinder and Fengler visited Romy Schneider and asked her to play the role of Maria Braun.
Fengler
Fassbinder