BELZER BEHIND THE WHEEL IN SPIKE LEE'S LATEST PROJECT.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Spike Lee's ``Get on the Bus'' movie is in its second week of production - and already stands out as a unique experience for Richard Belzer. ``We've got Ossie Davis, Charles Dutton, Isaiah Washington - a wonderful group - and everyone is working for scale,'' revealed the comic and ``Homicide'' actor. ``It's financed by black businessmen and women and artists, and it's one of those projects that definitely seems like more than just a movie.''

Belzer describes the story about the Million Man March on Washington as ``a poignant, funny and moving story of all these diverse personalities and what their thoughts and dreams were on the way to the march - a diversity the mainstream press didn't really capture,'' he said.

``The rehearsals were a revelation. A lot of actors don't really invest that much in their roles, but these guys are each bringing passion and deep thought to their characters.''

Belzer's the only white actor in the movie - which is being shot with the troupe traveling the actual route to D.C. - playing the bus driver who takes 20 marchers to Washington. Among the requirements for his part was learning to drive a bus, ``because Spike wanted to make sure I actually drove the tour bus on camera.''

The big screen scene: Bobby Brown's role as Martin Lawrence's best buddy in New Line's hot film, ``A Thin Line Between Love and Hate,'' is apparently giving Brown grand visions for his future acting career. According to studio sources, the oft-arrested recording star hubby of Whitney Houston is now talking about playing legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye in a biopic.

The thought of boorish bad boy Bobby Brown as silken stylish crooner Marvin Gaye might be downright frightening to Gaye's legions of fans. Well, don't worry - yet. Turns out Brown's talk comes as news to Suzanne de Passe, who has had a Gaye film biography in the works for years. And perhaps more importantly, her partner, Berry Gordy, holds the rights to Gaye's music.

``No one has ever uttered the words `Bobby Brown' to me in regards to Marvin Gaye. Maybe someone else is doing another Gaye project, but I haven't heard of it,'' she said.

Diva, diva, diva!: Get ready for the Three Sopranos. America's leading classical concert promoter Tibor Rudas and Atlantic Records god Ahmet Ertegun are bringing out three young American opera divas as the femme answer to those tenors we know so well. Kathleen Cassello, Kallen Esperian and Cynthia Lawrence will appear together in concert. Their debut Three Sopranos album will be released by Atlantic in the fall.

The videoland view: Patty Duke, who plays an Amish woman in the April 21 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, ``Harvest of Fire,'' revealed that the assignment left her with a fresh appreciation of how well women can work with women. She and co-star Lolita Davidovich turned into each other's greatest advisers and bolsterers during the shoot, she said. ``Of course that runs counter to the old concept of women working together, which is that one is the witch and the other one wants to take her place,'' she said, laughing.

Patty also found good company with a group of Mennonite women hired as seamstresses on the production - who helped provide Patty with insights into Amish views and lifestyle. ``I found in them surprisingly strong senses of humor, which made me feel, in a way, that I had permission to play my character with a strong sense of humor, too.''

Crossing over: Filmmaker James Foley is convinced that Alyssa Milano will firmly establish herself in films - and leave her ``Who's the Boss'' juvenile image behind. Foley has Milano in his ``Fear'' thriller that opens today.

``She came into audition like a fighter,'' Foley said. ``She got the part because she tried harder than anybody else and she was better than anyone else, which will be self-evident when people see the movie.''

Milano, you'll recall, was so determined to shed her cutie-pie ``Boss'' image she made the oh-so-steamy ``Deadly Sins'' last year.