Friday night movie patrons in Petah Tikva, where the issue of Sabbath film shows and open cafes has caused tension between Orthodox and secular Jews in recent weeks, were disappointed when the scheduled film, Yentl, was withdrawn and replaced by a rerun of an old Alfred Hitchcock film, Vertigo.
Yentl was withdrawn for the Friday night show at the request of its director, producer and star, Barbra Streisand. She explained, before leaving Israel that afternoon for Egypt after a week’s visit, that she did not wish that her film, about a Jewish girl who disguises herself as a young man in order to study at a yeshiva, should become involved in a religious observance controversy.
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