Aaron Stell (March 26, 1911 – January 7, 1996) was an American film editor with one hundred feature film credits and many additional credits for his television work. Stell worked for more than a decade at the start of his career at Columbia Pictures (1943–1955 credits), which was a major Hollywood studio in that era. Among his most noted films are Touch of Evil (directed by Orson Welles-1958), To Kill a Mockingbird (directed by Robert Mulligan-1962), and Silent Running (directed by Douglas Trumbull-1972).[1][2][3]
Touch of Evil, which was directed by Orson Welles, proved difficult for Stell; he was not the initial editor but instead chosen for re-editing, and he noted that Welles became "ill, depressed, and unhappy with the studio's impatience" in the process.[4]
^Kermode, Mark (2014). Silent Running. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 59. ISBN9781844578344. The finished sequence, which relies on Schikele's intelligently counterpoised score, is a masterclass in editing, with Aaron Stell moving deftly between detailed close-ups of the mechanical arms and intense shots of Dern's pained and sometimes terrified reaction ....
^Charles Higham (8 March 2004). The Films of Orson Welles. University of California Press. pp. 150–151. GGKEY:9FNTB9F9DXZ.
