Mace Neufeld’s Pulitzer candidate in photography

At his Beverly Hills home, film producer Mace Neufeld holds his 1944 photograph of a wounded Pvt. Sam Macchia being welcomed home from World War II by his parents in New York City. Neufeld was a 16-year-old high school senior when he snapped the photo, which made the short list for the 1945 Pulitzer Prize. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

May 3, 2014 11:45 AM PT

In time he would become a movie producer whose films include such hits as “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Invictus”. But in 1944 Mace Neufeld was a 16-year-old high school senior who loved to take pictures, and thanks to a bit of luck -- and hustle -- he became a contender for the Pulitzer Prize in photography.

U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, on Feb. 23, 1945. Neufeld’s photo lost out to Joe Rosenthal’s immortal image in the Pulitzer competition. The prize is usually honored for work done the previous year, but an exception was made in Rosenthal’s case. (Joe Rosenthal / Associated Press)