Some critics blasted the movie but they couldn’t ignore her performance. There were no more films for Elizabeth for three years. She left MGM after her contract ran out, but would do projects for the studio later down the road. In 1963 she starred in Cleopatra (1963), which was one of the most expensive productions up to that time–as was her salary, a whopping $1,000,000. The film took years to complete, due in part to a serious illness during which she nearly died.
