Encounter at the Elbe (in Russian: Встреча на Эльбе, romanized: Vstrecha na Elbe) is a Soviet war film released in 1949 from Mosfilm, describing the conflict, spying, and collaboration between the Soviet Army advancing from the east and the U.S. Army advancing from the west.

[1] The film was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov,[2] with music by Dmitri Shostakovich, which included “Yearning for the Homeland” (in Russian: Тоска по родине, the words by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky), that became popular at that time in the Eastern Bloc nations and among the leftists in the Western Bloc nations, including Japan.

[3] In April 1945, in the German town of Altenstadt, divided by the Elbe River, the advancing Soviet forces meet the U.S. troops.

General-businessman MacDermott organizes a systematic plundering of the territory occupied by the Allies, while in the Soviet sector, efforts are made to alleviate the suffering of the war-torn German civilians.

James Hill attempts to thwart the Nazis, remembering that they share a common enemy, but encounters a CIA emissary — a woman posing as a journalist.