 As a compromise, Warners sent Hill some novels they had optioned and offered to pay for him to write the script for one.He selected "The Freedom Trap" by Desmond Bagley.The novel was loosely based on the exposure and defection of George Blake, a Soviet mole in MI6.|author=Hill says, "I wrote a quick script which I was not particularly enamored with myself" and "much to my shock and surprise" Paul Newman agreed to star and John Huston wanted to direct.