The focus is on George Brent for once, not leading lady Kay Francis, in this drama about a troubled amateur pilot who accidentally kills his sister and parents when flying in the fog with a low tank of gas. So what do you do when you kill off your family, lose your pilot license and really have no other goal in life than to party your life away? Look for a rich socialite to support you! That would appear to be the case in Brent's sudden flirtation and marriage to the well dressed Francis who falls in love with his non-conformist ways from the start, even allowing him to laugh at her charming speech impediment as she recites "30 days has September", pronouncing April as "Apwil". You have to give Ms. Francis credit for allowing the script writer to include this "wefewance" to her inability to really pronounce any word with the letter "r", and the scene is more than just a cute passing reference to the well publicized deficient in her speech. They marry and are soon living in the country, against the advice of Francis's well-meaning but interfering aunt (Helen Lowell).Better known for her glamorous wardrobe more than for her slight lisp, Francis actually goes from gowns to house dresses, shockingly shown cleaning cupboards as Brent prepares to go grocery shopping. Of course, he comes back with only half of what is on the list, which is supposed to be an indication to her that he is not very responsible. To think that she gently dumped his friend Warren William (her co-star from "Dr. Monica") for Brent is unbelievable, and when she reveals that she had hoped to change him by marrying him, you know she's asking for heartache. A man like Brent's character can't be easily manipulated, and even if her intentions seem good (starting by aiding him in getting over his suppressed guilt), he's sort of like Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to where he does wacky things just to act like he's living, even though he's only living an obvious imitation of life. One scene after a break-up has Francis laughing heartily simply just for the point of laughing to hide her pain, and it seems rather false. In fact, this being a woman's picture told from a man's angle makes this seem rather forced from the beginning, even though Brent and Francis are a good team. It's odd to see Warren William on the sidelines in this, although he does provide the wisdom in their circle of friends, making him the guiding light in the solving of the issues that Francis's character wanted to become.

For anyone who doesn't know what the title means, it's certainly spelled out in the picture's story. I won't give the whole thing away but I did find it interesting the way George Brent's character transfers his ideas of living on velvet on to his wife, played by Kay Francis. They both suffer a lot in this film, but since this is a melodrama geared for female audiences, her torment is designed to be a lot more noble than his. Warren William, billed over Brent, appears as the couple's best friend, in more of a supporting role; he probably suffers too but his reduced screen time doesn't allow us to glimpse his particular turmoil and neurosis. Tearjerking aside, I found the performances to be sincerely played, and the woman (Helen Lowell) cast as Kay's impatient aunt was particularly good. Some of the denouement didn't make sense in the last few minutes, because a character who was supposed to die was suddenly allowed to live (per Jack Warner's wishes). Even if said character had died, I am not too sure how it would have reinforced a point the writers were trying to make. Maybe it was all supposed to lead to a realization that pain and suffering can be erased somehow, once you stop living on velvet.

Wow...talk about a ROTTEN pilot. The film begins with George Brent flying his sister, mother and father some place. However, the plane runs out of fuel. Now this is really a bad scene, as instead of just gliding down as any SANE pilot would do in a case like this, the plane inexplicably goes into a spin(!) and crashes into the ground. No sane pilot can be this bad but the film expects the audience to accept that it was just a mistake! What a sloppy setup.Following the crash, Brent goes through a period of a few years where he is aimless reckless. He travels the world--nearly getting killed or landing in jail repeatedly. Eventually he ends up back in the US and you see him buzzing a squadron of military planes--something that the film said was not against the law--though it clearly was and would have resulted at least in his pilots license being suspended or revoked! IT seemed odd that the deaths of his family caused him to become a jerk and not a morbid and brooding character. What a sloppy follow-up to the crash.After the US Air Corps incident, an old friend (Warren William) takes Brent under his wing--and introduces him to his society friends. Why introduce this nut-job to these folks is a bit beyond me! When Brent meets the woman William plans on marrying (Kay Francis), Francis almost immediately falls in love with Brent and they marry. While the idea of a smart and well-educated lady marrying a definite 'fixer upper' is silly, it does happen in real life. But, William magnanimously stepping aside good naturedly when this occurred is sloppy and tough to believe. It's a shame to see such a usually confident and good actor like William playing such a mushy wuss.Fortunately, while none of the film particularly made sense or was believable so far, at least the marriage went as you might expect in the real world. Brent continues to be incredibly irresponsible--having an aversion to work. At first, Francis is very long-suffering--but over time, Brent's attitude and actions take a toll on the marriage. She is incredibly co-dependent and always blames herself from not being able to change her loopy husband. And, even after they split up, the film seems to take the Tammy Wynette approach to life..."Stand By Your Man"....regardless!!! In other words, if you love an irresponsible man ENOUGH, things will magically work! What idiots!! What drivel!! Overall, this film is a great case of very good actors in a poorly written film. The characters rarely behave in a realistic or believable manner and it got boring watching them behave so stupidly. Brent, Francis and William were frankly ill-suited to such a crappy film that looks more like an insignificant B-movie than a film starring some of the top actors of the day. While I would watch anything these actors would appear in because I like them so much, most viewers won't be so charitable. And, since life is so short, why waste it with a film that had no right to be this bad.By the way, the worst line in the movie has to be "Poor devil...flying in the fog" as Brent looks out the window as a plane passes overhead. Talk about subtle!!!

Coming just before " Stranded" , a movie dealing with the plight of people left out in the cold ," Living On Velvet" ,if there were any doubt about it,shows how much Frank Borzage was an auteur.His sympathy for suffering people was infinite and the things he tells us still reverberates today.A man has lost all his family in a plane crash.So he is "living on velvet" now,playing the part of a faux bon vivant,incapable of "filling the void" .A man ("Gibraltar") will have to sacrifice his true love for a woman to give Clarence a reason to believe in life again.There are real saints in Borzage's work: Margaret Sullavan would do the same in " the shining hour" where she's willing to leave her husband she loves dearly so that two people will be happy.Like this ? try these ......"Phone Call from a stranger" (Jean Negulesco,1952) "Fearless" (Peter Weir,1993)