The Phantom Creeps (1939)
The 44th serial from Universal, "The Phantom Creeps" stars Bela Lugosi as the evil Dr. Alex Zorka carrying about a multitude of experiments in his secret laboratory with the help of his inept assistant Monk (Jack C. Smith). Zorka's artefacts are primarily terrible weapons including a 'devisualizer' belt that renders the wearer invisible, an eight foot tall killer robot (Edwin "Bud" Wolfe), and the remnants of a meteriote that has the power to freeze an entire army. Foreign spies posing as language intructors are trying to buy/steal Zorka's gizmos of destruction while his former partner, Dr. Fred Mallory (Edwin Stanley), is trying to convince Zorka to turn in his inventions over to the U.S. government. At this point Zorka just finds amusement from his work, but after an accident kills his wife, he swears vengance against society and decides to use his weapons to make himself World Dictator.