NAMES & FACES

Want to sue the makers of "Borat"? With participants in the hit film claiming they were duped into appearing in the movie and now considering legal action, potential plaintiffs had better form a line. Two fraternity brothers from a South Carolina university are among the early litigants, saying they were tricked into making racist and sexist remarks in the spoof documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," which has been the top film at the box office for two straight weeks, racking up $67.8 million in ticket sales.

The two plaintiffs were not named in the lawsuit, filed Thursday, "to protect themselves from any additional and unnecessary embarrassment." John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 claim that they were asked to sign a release form after a bout of heavy drinking. Plaintiff attorney Olivier Taillieu said the men "were put into an RV and were made to believe they were picking up Borat the hitchhiker." Todd Bailey , president of the University of South Carolina chapter of Chi Psi, told the (Columbia) State newspaper that one of the two plaintiffs was a member of Chi Psi, while the other had left the university.

Half a world away, the Romanian village that stands in for the fictional Borat's fictional home town in Kazakhstan wants to take the film's very real star, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, to court. Residents of Glod, a poor hamlet in the Carpathian Mountains, told London's Daily Mail they thought the actor and his crew were making a documentary. They found out only recently that that wasn't the case -- and didn't realize that Glod would be portrayed as an incest-ridden village full of prostitutes.

Nicu Tudorache , a one-armed grandfather, was depicted in the film with a sex-toy prosthesis. He says he did not realize at the time what the object was. "Our region is very poor, and everyone is trying hard to get out of this misery," he told the Daily Mail. "It is outrageous to exploit people's misfortune like this to laugh at them."

McQueen Goodies Auctioned

A Hollywood auction hit the spot for high rollers over the weekend, thanks to Barbara Minty-McQueen . Cars, trucks, motorcycles and movie memorabilia put up for sale by Steve McQueen 's widow sold to the tune of $2.9 million. McQueen, who died in 1980, starred in "The Great Escape" and "Bullitt" and was famed for his love of motor sports. The auction, held by Bonhams & Butterfields at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on Saturday, sold the actor's 1937 Crocker V-Twin motorcycle for $276,500. An anonymous bidder paid $70,200 for the Persol shades McQueen is believed to have donned in the opening scenes of 1968's "The Thomas Crown Affair." A Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow from the same film was bought for the same price. You tell us who got the better deal.

Noted . . .

· Future House speaker Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by son Paul , was spotted Friday night at the Govinda Gallery opening of "Elvis at 21: New York to Memphis," The Post's Richard Harrington reports. While looking at Alfred Wertheimer's photographs of Elvis Presley in 1956, she told gallery owner Chris Murray , "This was my youth."

· Prince debuted his new Vegas act over the weekend to the surprise of some fans and the delight of others. The high-energy show is the first of several Friday and Saturday gigs at the Rio before the Artist and his group the Twinz go on tour.

. . . And Quoted

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays."

-- Elton John to the London Observer's Music Monthly

Compiled by Ashby Strassburger from staff and wire reports