He found he could scale the outside of the building.He then teamed up with German student vagabond Marie Helena Kreutz (Franka Potente) as a hitchhiker (for a fare of $20,000) bound for Paris in her old, tiny red Austin Mini Cooper.Actually, I think he""s mad...Blackmail...Clipton: I know, sir.He means it.I""m sure he does.It""s a question of face, pure and simple.He can""t give in.Nicholson: It""s still blackmail.Clipton: Sir, you can""t stand much more of this.And wouldn""t the officers be better off working than suffocating in that hole? The men are doing a wonderful job.Willie is encouraged to run for state governor by state bosses in the capital, but he is really being manipulated by hem as a spoiler candidate to split the rural "hick" vote.]The narrator""s voice sounds amused - he promises to ell us, in a unique flashback structure, the real story of young screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) and how he ended up face down (with his eyes open) in the villa""s pool - his watery grave." A line of Russian submarines off the East Coast US ports was troubling, as well as a massive row of attack subs and surface vessels in the North Atlantic - too much firepower for a simple rescue mission.