The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-08-13
Judge Knight WiH
 End Famous Scandal
toontinued from Page D

this litigation has been stopped"
 "AM can say is that I'm relieved" Miss Astor said.
 The settlement of the custody case was expected to result In set- clement of the other litigation res sulting from their divorce in April, loSS. Miss AStor has sued to sub- stituto An annulment for the doc- tors divorce, for readjustment of their property settlement and the guardianship of Mariiyn, which was given to Thorpe under the divorce terms.
 Showdown Came Tuesday
 The showdown began Tuesday af- ter tho lurid court session on Mon- day where the names of nine men, six of them prominent, had been injected into the court record dur- ing the ross.examination of Miss Astor by Attorney Anderson.
 Included were Kaufman, ct pres ont c fugitive from c bench war; rants John Barrymore, tho screen lover: Bennett Cerf, New York puh- lish0r and divorced husband of Ac- treSS Sylvia Sidney; George Oppen- heimer, New York writer; Irving Thalherg, leading executive at M- 0-M studios and husband of Norma Shearer,
 Kaufman, suhpoenaed by Thorpe's attorneys, ignored tho service and failed to appear in court. His ar- rest was ordered by Judge Knight, pr. Thorpes lawyers wanted to question the playwright about his loVo affair with Miss Astor.
 Judge Knight on Tuesday refused to hear further evidence, ordering lawyers for both sides into contel- enceS which resulted In todayS Set. clement.
 Hollywood Heard Reports
 Hollywood heard several authen- tie reports which led 1t to believe that Judge Knight was not unalded in forcing the agreement. The Will Hays organization, guardian of hlm morals, was known to have favored Q settlement, The League for Do. cency was said to have inquired about the Astor diary. Along Holly wood boulevard it WaS whispered at cocktail bars that "plenty of heat was burned on from high places in the movie industry.
 Miss Astor is Q high priced Ma. M. star. Revelations such as those in her diary have reflected ad. versely, in previous eases at the box ofiiee.
 Judge Knight indicated that Q court appointed trustee would en- force tho agreement and the condi. tions he will impose,
 Judge Protects Child
 Before the agreement was arrived at, Judge Knight explained his ef- forts, which went beyond the con- VentionaA intervention of c court to bring litigants to an anicable set- clement, in this statement:
 "T am interested in protecting the future of this little child. The req son am making Q determined ef- fort to bring Mary Astor and pr. Thorpe into an out of court settle- ment is that I wish to protect the future of Marilyn from the menace of some time when she is grown up, and perhaps about to Do married, having the lurid details of Q nasty law suit between her parents thrown In her face.
 q earnestly hope this law suit will end in such c manner that Marilyn will visit freely back and forth with both her parents and will grow to young womanhood free of the shadow of Q public court record of bitter charges and counter charges vuinous to the careers and characters of her parents. Until this action is settled, or as long as there Is the slightest hope of agreement being reached, I shall do everything within my power within the juris- diction of my office. to prevent fur- ther airing in open court of the family affairs of little Marilyn's parents"
 Further Scandal stopped
 The charges that had been spread on the court record would have been followed by others even more sen- sational had not Judge Knight in- tervened and forced the settlement, persons close to both parties said. pr. Thorpe had been determined to make all of Miss Astor's diary a part of the court record. The diary was said to mention many persons prominent in the screen world. Miss Astor had announced her intention of proving that Dr. Thorpe was ale ready married when he married her. m the opening days of the trial. one of her witnesses testified that four different women had spent nights in his bedroom while his daughter vas living ct his homa