Zeffirelli tried one last time to get the film picked up in late 1973, but this time without Hussey. Given the overwhelming negative reception of Hussey’s recent film, "Lost Horizon", she wasn’t seen as the same box office draw as she was a few years earlier. Unbeknownst to Hussey, Zeffirelli recruited recent Oscar winner (and best friend to Hussey), Liza Minnelli, for the role of Marguerite Gautier. Even with Minnelli’s Oscar winning name attached to the proposal, no studio showed interest in the project.