‘Brief Encounter': who is ‘Alic e Porter Stoughey' alluding to?

[halcombe]

In the course of ‘Brief Encounter', we see the main characters, Alec
and Laura, attend a cinema where they watch the trailer for the
fictitious ‘Flames of Passion' (what looks like a compendium of the
worst elements of the 1930s British film!) – and, in a later scene,
watch the actual film.

We see on screen that ‘Flames of Passion' was based on a book by
‘Alice Porter Stoughey', no doubt equally fictitious.

But I am pretty sure that I have seen mention of a real-life female
novelist with a similar-sounding name (at least in the sense of having
two surnames, American-style) a novel of whose actually was turned
into a 1940s film (Hollywood, I think).

Any assistance in tracking down the real novelist gratefully received.

[Abfou]

On 20 Sep 2003 16:20:02 -0700, halc...@subdimension.com (halcombe)
wrote:

_______________________

Perhaps the American Anglophile Alice Duer Miller, author of "White
Cliffs."

Abfou

[Grant Hurlock]

> 'Alice Porter Stoughey', no doubt equally fictitious.
>

Reminds me a bit of Olive Higgens Prouty (if you squash the Porter
Stoughey together). Prouty wrote Now, Voyager--sappy, overblown romance
with a doctor onboard, that Laura could project herself into if she liked.
The movie Now, Voyager came 2 or 3 years before Brief Encounter, so
would have had a residual resonance for audiences of the latter. (Prouty
also penned Stella Dallas.)