US gapes at Bill, the Hollywood super-stud

An entire nation is gripped by allegations that Bill Clinton indulged in a "kind of sex" with Monica Lewinsky, a 21-year-old work experience trainee, then told her to lie about it. The White House is in pandemonium. It is a script even Hollywood would have had trouble dreaming up.

Or would it? In a case of life imitating art, the scandal finds uncanny echoes in two major films. Coming soon is Primary Colours, starring John Travolta and Emma Thompson (left), a fictionalised account of Clinton's 1992 campaign - complete with adultery. And there is Wag the Dog, about a president caught with a teenager. How much better - or worse - can it possibly get?

Clinton accused, page 13

Movie still: Big Pictures