Helen Brown moved in New York's elite social circles, and she achieved a position of prominence with impressive speed.

She became the managing editor and film critic at Vanity Fair

magazine in 1932 when she was 25 years old. It was now 1935, and she was 28 years old. She had been

married and divorced twice. She lived and worked downtown, but she went uptown when she wanted to have a

good time. One night in the summer of 1935, she went uptown when she wanted to have a good time.

One night in the summer of 1935, she went to the Alhambra Theater and Ballroom

on the corner of 126th Street and 7th Avenue in Harlem.

The popular venue was on the same block as and right around the corner from the now legendary Apollo

Theater. Helen met her date, a well-dressed black man named Ellsworth Johnson. They had been

carrying on a somewhat ill-defined, semi-regular relationship for a little while now, and she found

him utterly charming. He had a reputation as a gangster, but they mostly

operated in separate worlds, so she rarely saw that side of him. That night at the Alhambra,

they were having a peaceful dinner, until Johnson saw something over her shoulder. He stood up

and removed his hat. His eyes were fixed on a man across the restaurant.

The man was Ulysses Rollins, a gangster from Chicago.

Johnson and Rollins were henchmen on opposite sides of a gang war.

Johnson worked for Stephanie St. Clair, and Rollins worked for Dutch Schultz.

Before Rollins worked for Dutch Schultz. Before Rollins saw Johnson, Johnson moved across the restaurant and tackled Rollins to the floor.

A knife flashed between them.

Within moments, Johnson was back on his feet and Rollins was bleeding badly.

Rollins had been slashed multiple times, and one of his eyes had been badly damaged.

While others in the restaurant called an ambulance, Johnson walked back to his table.

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