The Espionage Escapades

The Espionage Escapades (retroactively titled The Espionage Escapades: A Prequel to the Brave Little Toaster) is a 1987 American adventure comedy-drama film directed by, written by and starring  and. The prequel to, the film follows Rob McGroarty as he learns to dance while in Barcelona aiding the effort as a spy, then he travels back to the United States where his mission is nearly foiled by a missing telephone.

The film was released in the United States by on December 11, 1987. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its acting, story, visuals and musical score, but criticism for its pacing, characters and its perceived departures from the plot and themes of The Brave Little Toaster. It grossed over $324.5 worldwide.

Plot
Rob McGroarty begins his undercover adventures in Barcelona, where he joins a trio of international spies -- Marco the Italian, Bernard the Frenchman, and Brian the Englishman. Together they contact an elaborate plot to disrupt the balance of diplomatic power and allegiances in the neutral city. Their fiendish plot, to make it appear as if the Countess of Toledo is carrying on an affair with a German colonel. Rob will help facilitate this illusion with his "low profile" cover as a ballet dancer in a Russian ballet by Olga Smirnov, a job he lands thanks to his previous acquaintance with Alessandro Lovato. Rob is hired to "stand still," but he can hardly keep quiet as the complex caper begins to unravel during a performance thanks to the bumbling of his comrades.

Rob's next assignment is more-or-less solo and fiendishly cryptic. Posing as lady's undergarment salesman, he is to make his way back to the United States, to check into a hotel in order to receive a phone call at a specific day and time -- innumerable lives are at stake. When Rob arrives, he discovers there is no phone installed in his room. The dehumanizing bureaucracy, endless forms, and mountainous paperwork required to get a working phone installed are labyrinthine and maddening. Can a clerk at the office, Sterling Caldwell II, help navigate this surreal nightmare before Rob loses his mind?

Cast

 * as Rob McGroarty
 * as Sterling Caldwell II
 * as Audrey Hunter
 * as Marco
 * as Bernard
 * as Brian
 * as Olga Smirnov
 * as Alessandro Lovato