The House on Carroll Street is a 1988 American neo-noir film[1] directed by Peter Yates, and starring Kelly McGillis, Jeff Daniels, Mandy Patinkin, and Jessica Tandy.

Set in 1950s New York City, it follows a photojournalist who, blacklisted after refusing to disclose names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, stumbles upon a plot to smuggle Nazi war criminals into the United States.

Emily Crane, a picture editor for Life magazine, is fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee.

During the crime scene investigation, the police find a list of four names in Stefan's pocket, and Emily insists that they search the house where she overheard the argument.

After a scuffle, the assassin flees, and Cochran takes Emily home — but not before she picks up a book with a woman's name and a date written inside the cover.

Salwen cryptically reveals as much to Emily, who returns home to find Cochran trying to disarm a bomb rigged to her kitchen stove.

A chase through a bookstore is monotonously staged, and the piece de resistance — a battle across the upper reaches of Grand Central Terminal — becomes noticeably clumsy.

Even such showy gestures as having Salwen describe the Red Menace by pouring ketchup onto a white tablecloth manage to lack visual flair, not to mention political sophistication.

'"[7] Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, film critics at Spirituality & Practice, also gave the film a mixed review, writing "Although The House on Carroll Street lacks dramatic punch, the filmmakers deserve credit for raising moral issues involved in recruiting former Nazis to secure America's scientific lead over the Russians in the Cold War.