 Originally called "The Magnificent Stranger", the title wasnt  changed to "A Fistful of Dollars" until almost three days before the  movie premiered in theaters. In fact, nobody had bothered to inform  its main star, Clint Eastwood (qv), of the change, and as a result  Eastwood remained virtually unaware of the positive buzz surrounding  the movie until an agent pointed it out to him in a Variety Magazine  article three weeks later.